The Matildas’ World Cup ambitions have been bolstered by the release of the latest Fifa world rankings, which have the Australian women’s national team holding on to their No 6 spot.

The Matildas are behind Canada at fifth in the new rankings released early on Saturday in Australia. The United States remain the world’s best team, ahead of Germany, France and England.

The group stage of the World Cup, which is being held in France next June, comprises six groups of four teams each. The world’s top six teams will be placed in separate groups. Holding their No 6 position means the Australians will avoid the top five in the group stage.

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There had been some concern that the Matildas’ top tier position had been placed at risk following their shock 3-2 loss to Chile in Sydney last month.

However, despite moving up three spots to No 7, the Netherlands’ failure to beat Switzerland for the second time in four days last month meant the Australians were able to retain their spot.

The Matildas will now be drawn from the top pot for the tournament. The draw is scheduled to take place early on Sunday. The Australians are certain to meet either the Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Brazil, Spain or Norway in the group stage of the competition.

The Matildas go into next year’s World Cup with a realistic chance of mounting a deep run in the tournament. This week, the Guardian released its top 100 women footballer rankings, and Australian forward Samantha Kerr was voted the second best player in the world.