With just two wins in the last nine matches, Jurgen Klinsmann and the US National Team continue to free fall through the FIFA rankings, dropping another four spots in the last month to sit the team outside the top 30 in the world for the first time in nearly two years.
The latest rankings, released Thursday morning, have the United States at #31, just below Bosnia-Herzegovnia, another team with the bottom falling out.
The United States entered the tournament in Brazil ranked 14th in the world, and despite a solid showing at the World Cup with an appearance in the knockout stage despite drawing arguably the toughest group in the competition, the team dropped to 17th after the tournament. But it’s hard to argue with the country’s position since then, dropping to 23rd in October and 28th in November before settling in at 27th to see the year out.
Now, none of this really matters of course, nor do the friendly results that have dropped the US to its current position, but it’s still a reflection of the disappointment the USMNT has faced of late as Klinsmann experiments with a transitional crop of players.
Elsewhere in the rankings, the top five was unchanged. Here’s a look at the top 10:
1. Germany
2. Argentina
3. Colombia
4. Belgium
5. Netherlands
6. Brazil
7. Portugal
8. France
9. Uruguay
10. Spain
There was little movement within the top 10, with all the same teams remaining with just a slight amount of place-swapping. Spain continues to fall in the rankings, dropping one spot from 9th, changing places with Uruguay. Meanwhile, France “drops” one spot to eighth after finishing last month tied with Portugal for 7th.
Other notable moves include England falling two places from 13th to 15th, while Costa Rica gained three places to 13th. The Ivory Coast shot up the rankings after winning the African Cup of Nations, moving a solid eight spots up to 20th. The biggest mover was Equatorial Guinea, who gained a whopping 69 places to 40th after controversially making the semi-finals of the tournament. Australia also jumped big after winning the Asian Cup, moving up 37 spots to 63rd. Iran remains Asia’s only top-50 member at 41.
In the United States’ neighborhood, the rankings look as such: ahead of the US is Tunisia, Ukraine, Denmark, Ecuador, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, while below them sits Israel, Russia, Wales, and Cape Verde Islands. The US hasn’t been in the 30’s since March of 2013, and their lowest-ever ranking was 36 back in July of 2012. The last time the US finished a year outside the top 30 was 2011, the year Klinsmann took over for Bob Bradley. FIFA began the ranking system in 1993.