The boffins have broken football again.
How is it possible to win two games – World Cup qualifiers – in the space of a month, score 10 goals, concede 0 and still drop two places in the latest Fifa rankings?
That is exactly what has happened to Belgium after the release of the latest rankings list from on high in Zurich.
Fifa’s latest proclamation of the world’s best teams sees Argentina continue to sit pretty while Belgium drop from second to fourth. Germany are now second and Brazil have climbed to third.
In the space of four days, Belgium defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-0 and put six on Gibraltar. That improved their overall ranking points but notable wins for Germany and Brazil have seen them left behind.
LATEST #FIFARanking
Argentina stay top, Germany, Brazil close in
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📰👉 https://t.co/o0h8tO8KtS pic.twitter.com/FanWm3K0XX— FIFA (@FIFAcom) October 20, 2016
So what effect did England’s thrilling 2-0 win over Malta and swashbuckling 0-0 draw with Slovenia affect things?
Well, erm, not at all. Sam Allardyce’s Gareth Southgate’s side are non-movers at 12th, just one place above Italy.
Scotland drop 13 places to 57th, Wales just slip out of the top 10 into 11th (but still above England).
Northern Ireland have dropped six places to 36th after their defeat in Germany, while the Republic have suffered a similar fate to the Belgians.
Martin O’Neill’s men won both of their games in October – against Georgia and Moldova – but slipped below Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal to 33rd after both the African nations also recorded back-to-back victories.
