The Costa Rican national team has hit a new high-water mark, achieving their best-ever FIFA World Rankings spot after moving up three spots to No. 13 in the latest edition of the rankings, released on Thursday.
Los Ticos are the highest rated CONCACAF team, coming in eight spots ahead of No. 21 Mexico and 18 spots in front of the No. 31 US team.
Mexico dropped one spot from last month’s rankings, getting passed by new No. 20 Ivory Coast, which recently won the African Cup of Nations. The USMNT moved down four spots from No. 27 to No. 31 after going 1-1-0 in friendlies against Chile and Panama in the last two weeks. Canada dropped five spots, falling from 112th to 117th.
The US’s next two opponents, Denmark and Switzerland, both moved up in the latest rankings, with the Danes bumping up two spots to No. 32 and Switzerland moving up one place to No. 11. The US will play at Denmark on March 25 and at Switzerland on March 31 before returning home to face Mexico in San Antonio on April 15.
Equatorial Guinea made the biggest move this month, moving up 69 spots to 49th in the world after their fourth-place finish at the Africa Cup of Nations, which they hosted. Fellow CAF country Libya had the largest fall in the rankings, moving down 35 spots to No. 113.
Columbus Crew SC midfielder Justin Meram and Iraq moved up 20 spots after their fourth-place finish at last month’s Asian Cup. Former New York Red Bulls Designated Player Tim Cahill and Australia had an ever bigger rise, moving up 37 spots to No. 63 after winning the Asian Cup on home soil.
