Football didn’t quite come home this summer, but it did come mighty close
England made the semi-finals of the World Cup, and while they didn’t quite have enough to get beyond Croatia and into the final, the Three Lions’ display in Russia represented their best performance at the tournament in nearly three decades.
In light of this, Gareth Southgate’s men have risen six places in the latest FIFA rankings, climbing from 12th to sixth.
World Cup winners France are top, while Croatia have moved up a huge 16 places to fourth after making the final.
Didier Deschamps’ side replace Germany at the top of the new rankings, the dethroned world champions falling all the way back to 15th after failing to qualify for the tournament’s knock-out stages.
Belgium, who beat England in the third place play-off, are in second while Brazil – despite a relatively disappointing World Cup – are third.
The only other team to be ranked higher than England are Uruguay, who are now fifth after their run to the last eight. Portugal, Switzerland, Spain and Denmark complete the top ten, with Argentina dropping out to 11th.
Wales currently occupy 19th place, with Northern Ireland in 27th – two places above the Republic of Ireland. Scotland have risen two places and now sit in 40th place.
England return to action when they play Spain at Wembley in the UEFA Nations League on September 8. They will take on Switzerland three days later at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium.
