The July edition of the FIFA World Ranking was not kind to CONCACAF’s finest.
The US, Mexico and Costa Rica – the confederation’s three highest-ranked teams – all slid down the FIFA charts this month, with the Americans dropping seven spots to number 34 in the world. Mexico fell 17 places to number 40, and Costa Rica sliding an astonishing 27 spots to number 41.
Canada did receive a slight uptick in their ranking, moving up six spots to 103rd in the world. They sit at 10th in CONCACAF, but in the latest FIFA rankings, trail the US, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama (62), Trinidad & Tobago (64), Jamaica (76), Haiti (79), Honduras (80) and El Salvador (88).
The US slide in the rankings may seem a bit surprising, with the Americans coming off of a month that saw them win friendlies at top-five sides Netherlands and Germany. But the nature of the World Ranking’s long-term algorithms placed more value on Copa América matches and European Championship qualifiers than exhibitions, precipitating the USMNT’s dip.
Meanwhile Belize made the biggest jump in the world this month, moving up 37 places to 114th.
The top 10 also received a bit of a shake-up, with Romania, England and Wales replacing Uruguay, France and Spain in the number eight, nine, and 10 spots, respectively. The top of the ranking also changed, with Argentina – who recently lost the Copa América final to Chile on penalties – taking first place from Germany, who fell to second.
