For whatever FIFA’s World Rankings are worth outside of the actual World Cup draw, the United States is one of several Top 15 teams moving upward in the last rankings before the beginning of this year’s tournament in Brazil.
The Yanks have climbed back into No. 13 on the list one month after dropping to 14. Wins over Turkey (mostly) and Azerbaijan (a little) propelled the States past Chile, which beat Egypt 3-2 in its only match of the month.
England has ascended into the Top 10, while tournament hosts Brazil have reached No. 3 (behind Germany and Spain).
Around CONCACAF, Mexico drops one place to No. 20, while Costa Rica has taken a leap of six spots up to No. 28. Panama is up four places to 31, while Honduras drops to 33. Aruba is the biggest CONCACAF mover, up 35 spots to 120, while Montserrat has gained 22 spots to No. 166.
Sierra Leone is perhaps the biggest mover, jumping up 17 spots to No. 54. Senegal’s drop to No. 74 is an 11-place fall. New Zealand is up 14 spots and back into the Top 100, but that’s nothing compared to Palestine; The Middle Eastern club is up 71 spots to No. 94.
Other big movers around the globe:
- Scotland is down five spots to No. 27
- Sweden has dropped seven to No. 32, while Egypt is down 12 to No. 36.
- Wales is up six spots to No. 41.