Spain firmly on top of FIFA rankings

As expected, there were no big changes in the first FIFA world rankings of the new year, issued yesterday.

Spain continue to lead the way, ahead of the Netherlands and Germany. The only change in the top ten saw Croatia (9th, up 1) and Egypt (10th, down 1) swapping places.

Spectacular moves were also thin on the ground further down the ranking, with only 12 teams within the top 50 changing places. There was greater movement around position 100, where China (79th, up 8) and Qatar (105th, up 9) made the biggest leaps forward.

The hosts of the 2022 World Cup recorded a surprise victory over Egypt and are now aiming to break into the top 100.

Belarus (37th, up 1), Hungary (41st, up 1) and Antigua and Barbuda (103rd, up 3) all achieved their highest position since the introduction of the rankings.

Malta starts the year at no.163, an improvement of one place from the December ranking.

Meanwhile, the first highlight of the year is currently under way in Qatar, where 16 national teams are vying for the AFC Asian Cup.

All 32 matches will be reflected in the February edition of the rankings and are sure to lead to some reshuffling of the pack.

For once, there was almost no action at national team level in most confederations.

Only 35 friendly matches were taken into account in the current rankings, 23 of which were played before the turn of the year.

Top 10 in the world
1. Spain; 2. Netherlands; 3. Germany; 4. Brazil; 5. Argentina; 6. England; 7. Uruguay; 8. Portugal; 9. Croatia; 10. Egypt.