HIBAPRESS-RABAT-FIFA
While the 2022 FIFA Qatar World Cup™ put men’s football in the spotlight for a few weeks, women’s football has not been left out. In fact, 48 international matches have been played by the women’s team since October 2022 and significant changes can be seen in December’s FIFA Women’s World Rankings.
Of course, the leader remains unchanged: the United States (1st, -) keeps the throne it has occupied since 2017, but the gap on its first pursuer, Germany (2nd, +1), is narrowing. It must be said that the USA have lost three of their last four meetings, including one against the new runners-up (1-2).
Sweden (3rd, minus 1) fell back a notch and dropped to third place on the podium. She is ahead of England (4th,-) and France (5th,-). For its part, Canada (6th, +1) is getting closer to the Top 5, while Spain (7th, -1) is slightly away from it.
The end of the year didn’t smile at Italy (17th, minus 3) who lost three positions. Conversely, Portugal (22nd, +1) and the Republic of Ireland (23rd, +1) end 2022 on a high note and at levels never reached before.
While Turkey (64th, 3 points up) made the best progress in terms of points (+10.23 points), the most spectacular leap in terms of positions was achieved by Estonia (91st, 5 up). Montenegro (96th, minus 5) pays the price in particular, leaving it in 91st place and losing five seats.
Note that the December 2022 ranking counts 187 member federations, knowing that FIFA has 211. Never has a calendar year ended with so many teams in the world hierarchy.
The next edition of the FIFA Women’s World Ranking will be published on March 24, 2023
United States leader (unchanged)
Top 10 Entries None
Top 10 Releases None
Total number of games played 48
Most games played by 39 teams (2 games)
Major improvement in Turkey points (up 10.23 points)
Biggest increase in positions Estonia (+5 positions)
Biggest drop in Italy points (minus 18.41 points)
Biggest drop in seats Montenegro (minus 5 seats)
New entries None
Teams now unclassified due to extended inactivity None
