12 July 2019 – As the curtains have closed on the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™, a new FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking order has been established.
Banyana Banyana, who were knocked out in the first round in their maiden tournament, remain unchanged in position 49th in the world and 3rd on the continent.
Nigeria and Cameroon – both of whom were also in France – still lead the way.
Still on the continent, Gabon (124th) returned to the ranking for the first time since August 2016 after their impressive away win over Congo in 2020 Olympics qualifiers.
It will come as no surprise that back-to-back champions USA (1st, unchanged) strengthened their position at the very top, defeating four fellow top-six nations in the process to extend their lead to 121 points over Germany (2nd, unchanged) in what is the largest gap in the ranking’s history.
Runners-up the Netherlands (3rd, up 5) are the biggest movers within the top 10 after their Cinderella run to the final in what was only their second ever participation in the world finals. The Oranjeleeuwinnen’s ranking of 3rd is the country’s best-ever position.
Sweden’s (6th, up 3) bronze-medal finish at France 2019 sees them make the second-highest move within the top 10 and return to the top six for the first time in over two years.
Early exits for Canada (7th, down 2) and Australia (8th, down 2) and a fourth-place finish for England (5th, down 2) mean they all make marginal drops.
Further down the table, the Philippines (67th, up 7) and India (57th, up 6) are the biggest climbers thanks to their positive performances in qualifying matches for the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Tokyo 2020.
The ranking itself reached a new milestone with the number of teams increasing from 155 to 158, with no teams needing to be removed due to prolonged inactivity, which is an all-time record.
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking will be published on 27 September 2019.
Top 10 in Africa:
- Nigeria (36)
- Cameroon (41)
- South Africa (49)
- Ghana (53)
- Ivory Coast (69)
- Equatorial Guinea (71)
- Mali (80)
- Morocco (83)
- Algeria (86)
- Algeria (88)
Top 10 in the World:
- USA
- Germany
- Netherlands
- France
- England
- Sweden
- Canada
- Australia
- Korea DPR
- Brazil