With no A-international matches played last month, the May edition of the FIFA world rankings provided a brief moment of security for teams eager to hold on to their top positions.
All teams in the top 50 maintained their positions this month, with Argentina still in top spot ahead of Belgium and Chile.
The regional composition of said teams also remained unaffected since last month’s ranking.
UEFA has 30 teams in the top 50, CONMEBOL 8, CAF 7, CONCACAF 3, AFC 2 and OFC 0.
The Philippines may have failed to qualify for the next round of 2018 World Cup qualifiers in the AFC region, but the Azkals get to celebrate a milestone in this month’s rankings. Thomas Dooley’s men moved up one rank this month to reach their best ever position in the FIFA classification (115).
Malta dropped one place in the latest list and are now ranked 165th with 149 points.
Pietro Ghedin’s men will again be in action at the end of the month when they play two international friendlies against Euro 2016 finalists in Austria.
Malta face the Czech Republic on May 26 before taking on Austria five days later.
Top 10
1. Argentina 1,532; 2. Belgium 1,364; 3. Chile 1,353; 4. Colombia 1,337; 5. Germany 1,309; 6. Spain 1,277; 7. Brazil 1,261; 8. Portugal 1,184; 9. Uruguay 1,158; 10. England 1,069.