Spain Stay Top France leapfrog England into second and North Korea Jump the Highest

North Korea Leap the Highest

Nearly three months have gone by since the FIFA/Cola-Cola Women's World Ranking was last published, and no fewer than 154 international football matches have been played during that timeframe.

Qualifying fixtures for the Women's Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024 were held in Africa, while UEFA Women's EURO 2025 qualifiers took top billing in Europe.

These intense encounters, in addition to a large number of friendly fixtures, resulted in several changes to the standings, including an adjustment to the top three.

Spain (1st) consolidate top spot but La Roja have new challengers breathing down their necks, namely France (2nd, up 1).

Les Bleues overtake England (3rd, down 1), and in doing so now sit in a lofty spot they have never occupied before. Germany (4th, up 1), meanwhile, move past the United States (5th, down 1), who continue to slide in a downward direction.

Further down, Sweden (6th) and Japan (7th) maintain their positions. Canada (8th, up 1), Brazil (9th, up 1) and Korea DPR (10th, up 1) all gain a spot, thereby easing the Netherlands (11th, down 3) out of the top ten for the first time in seven years

Montenegro (85th, up 4) and El Salvador (90th, up 7) enjoy eye-catching advances within the top 100, while Belarus (55th, up 2) register the biggest points gain (up 31.91 points).

The most striking progress in terms of ranking places is achieved by North Macedonia (123rd, up 12), in the wake of their solid wins over Latvia and Moldova.

Other than the Macedonians, five other national teams hit their highest-ever points totals: Spain, Zambia, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, and Congo DR.

In fact, Zambia (64th, up 1) have two reasons to celebrate, as they have also attained their best-ever placing in a table that is likely to change further in the next few months, with Paris 2024 just around the corner.