While the latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Ranking bears the marks of no fewer than 177 A-level international matches, there is little evidence of that fixture glut in the ladder’s upper echelons.

The top five remains unchanged and there is only one change in the top ten, with Croatia (6th, up 1) climbing for the second successive edition at the expense of Portugal (7th, down 1). There are, however, more significant changes further down the table, with Italy (13th, up 2), Poland (19th, up 2), Serbia (29th, up 4) and Nigeria (31st, up 4) pushing their way upwards.

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ qualifiers in Asia have also made an impression. Myanmar (136th, up 11), for example, are the only team to have advanced more than 10 positions, having done so thanks to impressive wins over Nepal (170th, down 3), Tajikistan (121st, down 5) and Mongolia (190th, down 4). Kuwait (147th, up 9) also made a substantial jump on the back of their fine results in the Qatar 2022 preliminaries.

Yet perhaps the most significant success story of this edition is Venezuela (25th, up 1). While their rise might be more modest than others, La Vinotinto – due largely to a recent friendly victory over Japan (28th, unchanged) – have now ascended to their highest position since the Ranking was introduced in 1993.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 19 December 2019.