Qualification for the Olympic Women’s Football Tournament Paris 2024 has been the focal point for national teams in the OFC, UEFA and AFC in the first three months of the year. Elsewhere, the 2024 West Asian Football Federation Women’s Championship and the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup have also been taking place.In total, 126 international matches have been played during the period so far, prompting more than a few changes in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking.
Leaders Spain (1st) have extended their advantage over their nearest challenger, which is now England (2nd, up 2). Though beaten in the UEFA Nations League final by La Roja, France (3rd) retain their place in the global top three.Despite being crowned Concacaf champions on March 10, the USA (4th, down 2) slip out of that top three, paying a heavy price for a 2-0 group-phase defeat to Mexico. Germany (5th, up 1) move into the top 5, while Brazil (10th, up 1) slot back into a top 10 that also features Sweden (6th, down 1), Japan (7th, up 1), the Netherlands (8th, down 1) and Canada (9th, up 1).Mexico (31st, up 4) and Slovenia (41st, up 3) are the highest climbers in the top 50, though the biggest moves of all are to be found further down the Ranking. Zambia (65th, up 5), Puerto Rico (85th, up 18) and Kosovo (91st, up 9) have each hit all-time highs, while Solomon Islands (88th, up 21) make the biggest jump of all, following wins over American Samoa, Fiji and Samoa.
In the process, Zambia, Puerto Rico, Kosovo and Solomon Islands have all achieved their highest ever points totals, as have Spain, El Salvador, Nepal, Lebanon, Tanzania and Saudi Arabia.Finally, Iraq (172nd) have now joined the World Ranking, which now features a record 193 national teams.
That figure could be eclipsed in June, with six more teams just one official match away from joining, namely Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Gibraltar, Libya and Sudan. |
