By Esther Egbe
With the continental finals of Africa, South America and North America and the Caribbean reaching a crescendo in the past month, the latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking sees a number of significant changes., National Daily learnt.
Unsurprisingly, the regional kings are some of the primary beneficiaries in the July update.
New South American champions Brazil (2nd, up 1) leapfrogged France (3rd, down 1) in second place and trail leaders Belgium by a narrow margin of 20 points.
Other sides in Copa America action improved their Ranking positions substantially, namely quarter-finalists Uruguay (5th, up 3), Colombia (8th, up 5), and Venezuela (26th, up 7) – who reach their best-ever Ranking position after their run to the last eight.
Bronze-medallists Argentina (10th, up 1) complete a quartet of South American teams in the top ten.
While the South American sides dominate the upper echelons of the Ranking, there have been significant gains by sides taking part in the CAF Africa Cup of Nations and Concacaf Gold Cup, too.
ALSO READ:Brazil vs. Argentina: The fear of Messi is real
Concacaf champions Mexico (12th, up 6) and fellow finalist USA (22nd, up 8) made big strides up the table with an honourable mention for surprise semi-finalist Haiti (83rd, up 18).
African champions Algeria (40th, up 28) are the biggest mover in the July edition by ranks and points (up 117), while fellow finalist Senegal (20th, up 2) did not make a huge leap but reached their best-ever Ranking position.
Semi-finalists Nigeria (33rd, up 12), are joined by surprise quarter-finalists Madagascar (96th, up 12) and Benin (82nd, up 6) in seeing their continental performances rewarded with a Ranking rise.
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 19 September 2019.