Japan's Rank Drops, Jumps to 8th in Morocco World... This year's first FIFA ranking 'upheaval' was announced

*This content was translated by AI.

Significant changes will be made to this year's first FIFA rankings, which will be announced on the 19th. This is because most national teams, including South Korea, did not have an A match during the FIFA A match period, but it reflects the results of teams participating in the African Football Confederation (CAF) Africa Cup of Nations.

In particular, the African Cup of Nations is a continental cup tournament with the second-largest weight after the World Cup, such as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup and the UEFA European Championship (Euro), so the participating teams have a wide range of points and rankings. In the process, there are many teams that have jumped in the rankings, and there are many teams that fall in the rankings without playing games.

According to Cambio De Huago, which compiles FIFA rankings in real-time on the 16th (Korea time), Morocco, which reached the final of the African Cup of Nations, jumped three places from 11th to 8th to enter the top 10. Morocco's FIFA ranking points accumulated by reaching the final are 20.22 points. However, even if they beat Senegal in the final, they cannot overtake the Netherlands in seventh place. On the contrary, Morocco's FIFA ranking in January was confirmed to be eighth because the tournament does not have points cut in case of defeat.

Senegal, which reached the final together, accumulated a whopping 36.79 points during the same period. In particular, he scored 12.75 points with the victory over Mali in the quarterfinals and 15.73 points each with the victory over Egypt in the semifinals. Senegal will be ranked 14th, up five places from 19th last month. If you beat Morocco to the top, your ranking could rise further.

As Morocco and Senegal's rankings rose, the ranking of the top teams was inevitable. Croatia, which was ranked in the top 10 in 10th place, fell to 11th place in line with Morocco's rise in the rankings. In addition, as Senegal's ranking has risen significantly, the U.S. and Mexico, the host countries of North American World Cup, are expected to fall one place to 15th and 16th, respectively, while Japan, the No. 1 Asian country, is also expected to fall from 18th to 19th. However, there is no change in the rankings of the top 20 teams, including South Korea, which is lower than Morocco and Senegal, so Asia's ranking will be ranked 19th in Japan, 20th in Iran, and 22nd in Korea.

Nigeria, which was eliminated in the semifinals as well as Morocco and Senegal, which reached the final, is expected to rise 11 places from 38th to 27th. Algeria, the quarterfinal elimination team, will also be ranked from 34th to 28th. Egypt is also set to rise from 35th to 31st, but it is likely to fall from 4th to 5th in Africa in line with Nigeria's surge in rankings.

In addition, most of the African teams are expected to rise significantly, with Ivory Coast ranking 42nd to 37th and Cameroon ranking 57th to 45th. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, ahead of the intercontinental playoff (PO), will also rise from 56th to 48th, while Tunisia, which belongs to the same group as Japan at the World Cup, will plunge from 41st to 47th.

South Africa, which belongs to the same Group A in North American World Cup with South Korea led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, is expected to rank 60th, up just one place from 61st, with only 6.03 points through the Africa Cup of Nations. In line with the Africa Cup of Nations, the FIFA rankings of Group A teams will be adjusted to 16th in Mexico, 22nd in South Korea, and 60th in South Africa, respectively. The FIFA rankings of teams in European PO Pass D, where the final winner will head to Group A, are expected to rise one place only in the Czech Republic in January, ranking 21st in Denmark, 43rd in the Czech Republic, 59th in Ireland, and 66th in North Macedonia.

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*This content was translated by AI.