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Belgium top the FIFA\/Coca-Cola Rankings for the fourth consecutive year;\u00a0<\/strong>This year\u2019s \u2018Most Improved Side\u2019 are Canada with a 130.32-point gain; Qatar in Top 50 as we head into 2022.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, only 352 full internationals were played in 2020. Not since 1987 (323 matches) had so few games been played in a calendar year. By contrast, planet football made up for lost time in 2021 with a record breaking 1116 matches played.<\/p>\n And while the quantity of games changed radically from one year to the next, the top ranked team in the FIFA\/ Coca-Cola World Ranking (https:\/\/fifa.fans\/3H8jviY) has remained the same! For the fourth year in a row, Belgium<\/strong> (1st<\/sup>) end the calendar year in pole position, albeit only just ahead of Brazil<\/strong> (2nd<\/sup>)by 2.1 points. France<\/strong> (3rd<\/sup>) complete the podium for 2021.<\/p>\n For their part, Canada<\/strong> (40th<\/sup>) are the year\u2019s \u2018Most Improved Side\u2019 having picked up no fewer than 130.32 points over the last 12 months. Their journey to the semi-finals of the 2021 Gold Cup as well as impressive results in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022\u2122 qualifying have been major factors in their rise.<\/p>\n Winners of UEFA EURO 2020 and the Copa America 2021 respectively, Italy<\/strong> (6th<\/sup> + 115.77 points compared to December 2020) and Argentina<\/strong> (5th<\/sup> +108.51 points compared to December 2020), have also seen their points tally increase dramatically this year.<\/p>\n The same goes for the USA<\/strong> (11th<\/sup> + 103.51 points compared to December 2020) and England<\/strong> (4th <\/sup>+ 85.52 points compared to December 2020). Equatorial Guinea<\/strong> (114th<\/sup> + 59.78 points compared to December 2020) made the most impressive progress among African teams, while Saudi Arabia<\/strong> (51st<\/sup> + 81.71 points compared to December 2020) did the same in Asia.<\/p>\n However, just in terms of last month, the most improved Asian team are Indonesia<\/strong> (164th<\/sup> + 11.13 points). Winners of the FIFA Arab Cup 2021\u2122, Algeria<\/strong> (29th<\/sup> +3) jointly made the best progress in terms of places, along with Qatar<\/strong> (48th<\/sup> + 3), who finished third at the tournament, and Thailand<\/strong> (115th<\/sup> +3).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Click HERE (<\/strong>https:\/\/fifa.fans\/3sutk6H) to view the complete ranking.<\/strong><\/p>\n The next FIFA\/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 10 February 2022<\/u>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Leader\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>Belgium (unchanged)
\nCountries entering the Top 10\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> \u00a0None
\nCountries exiting the Top 10\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0None
\nTotal matches played\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>\u00a058
\nMost matches played\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>Algeria, Egypt, Qatar, Tunisia (6 matches)
\nBiggest increase in points\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>\u00a0Indonesia (up 11.13 points)
\nBiggest increase in places\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Algeria, Qatar, Thailand (plus 3 places)
\nBiggest drop in points\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> \u00a0Myanmar (minus 8.01 points)
\nBiggest drop in places\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> \u00a0Myanmar (minus 4 places)
\nCountries joining the Ranking\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> \u00a0None
\nCountries leaving the Ranking\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>None
\nUnranked inactive teams\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> \u00a0Cook Islands<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n