Republic of Ireland down to 55th in FIFA world rankings

The Republic of Ireland have dropped to 55th in the latest FIFA world rankings following their two Euro 2024 qualifier defeats to France and the Netherlands this month.

Stephen Kenny's men have slipped down a further three places from their June placing of 52nd, which was calculated after they lost 2-1 to Greece in Athens and then beat Gibraltar 3-0 at the Aviva Stadium.

Ireland host the Greeks in October before travelling to Gibraltar a few days later. They wrap up their group campaign against the Dutch in Amsterdam in November.

Northern Ireland are down to 74th after losses to Slovenia and Kazakhstan, with Scotland 31st and Wales 33rd.

World champions Argentina strengthened their grip at the top of the rankings, with the top five remaining unchanged after the international break.

Argentina, who dethroned Brazil at the summit in April, remained top after beating Ecuador and Bolivia in their 2026 World Cup qualifiers earlier this month.

Second-placed France, who beat Ireland 2-0 in Paris earlier this month, retained second place followed by Brazil [third], England [fourth] and Belgium [fifth].

Portugal were the only team in the top 10 to climb a spot, moving up to eighth, while Italy dropped one place to ninth after a 1-1 draw with North Macedonia in a Euro 2024 qualifier.

Croatia [sixth], Netherlands [seventh] - 2-1 victors in Dublin 11 days ago - and Spain [10th] complete the top 10, while Morocco [13th], Colombia [16th], Denmark [18th] and Japan [19th] all moved up a place.

The top 20-ranked nations: 1 Argentina, 2 France, 3 Brazil, 4 England, 5 Belgium, 6 Croatia, 7 Netherlands, 8 Portugal, 9 Italy, 10 Spain, 11 USA, 12 Mexico, 13 Morocco, 14 Switzerland, 15 Germany, 16 Colombia, 17 Uruguay, 18 Denmark, 19 Japan, 20 Senegal

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