IRELAND HAVE MOVED up to 28th in the latest Fifa World Rankings, moving up four places following a decent international break for Mick McCarthy’s side.

The Boys in Green sit top of their qualification group for Euro 2020 and have overtaken Tunisia, Slovakia, Romania and Northern Ireland to climb into the world’s top 30.

The North have dropped four places to 33rd, while Wales are five ahead of the Republic in joint-23rd with Iran.

Scotland have plummeted a further four spots to 52nd following their two European qualifier defeats to Russia and Belgium, while England remain fourth behind Belgium in top spot, world champions France in second and Brazil in third.

Portugal, Uruguay, Spain, Croatia, Colombia and Argentina make up the rest of the top 10, while Ireland’s Euro qualification group rivals Switzerland and Denmark are 11th and 14th respectively.

Germany have now slipped to 16th having been overtaken by Italy, while the Netherlands — who beat the Germans in a recent qualifier — have climbed three places to 13th.

Former Ireland performance analyst and current coaching wizard of OZ Eoin Toolan joins Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey to predict Ireland’s World Cup, break down every pool, and call the overall winners.

Source: The42 Rugby Weekly/SoundCloud