KATHMANDU, Aug 17: Nepal has stayed intact in the Men’s FIFA Ranking at 161st place, while the 2018 World Cup champion France is at the top of the standings in the rankings unveiled on Thursday. 

Likewise, the World Cup semifinalist Belgium, who lost to France, climbed to the second place, while Brazil, who suffered a defeat to Belgium in the quarterfinals, dropped down to the third position. Also, the losing finalist Croatia climbed 16 places to be fourth, while Uruguay leaped from the 16th rank to fifth. Similarly, England jumped from 12th to sixth, while Denmark entered the ninth position. 

Also, in the rankings, Iran has given a continuation its status of the best in Asia by climbing five places up to be at 32nd, while Australia is 43rd and Japan is 55th. 

Meanwhile in South Asia, India is at the top of the rankings. Improving a place, India has climbed up to the 96th position, while the Maldives is the second best in the continent as it is 150th. Nepal is the third best in the region. 

After a disappointing World Cup campaign, Argentina and Germany dropped from the top 10, along with Italy and Chile who did not even qualify for the finals. Mexico and Poland also dropped out. 

Argentina, who was fifth at the July rankings, dropped to 11th, while Chile dropped three places down to 12th.  Russia has leapfrogged in the rankings after a tremendous World Cup campaign. Russia was earlier 70th, as it climbed up to 21 places to claim the 49th. 

FIFA said its new formula, approved by the FIFA Council before the World Cup, relied on adding or subtracting points, depending on the results of matches, rather than averaging points over a given period of time.

 
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