Football
ESPN staff 10y

Colombia climb above Netherlands in FIFA World Ranking

Colombia have moved up to third in the September FIFA world ranking, swapping places with Netherlands.

Colombia, who reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup in the summer before losing to hosts Brazil, played one game this month as they were again defeated by Brazil -- this time 1-0 in Miami.

But Netherlands played two games in the month, losing 2-0 to Italy in a friendly and 2-1 to Czech Republic in a Euro 2016 qualifier. As the points are calculated partly by number of games played, this meant Colombia swapped places with the Dutch by virtue of losing fewer matches. It equals Colombia's best-ever position, previously achieved in July and August last year.

Germany and Argentina remain unchanged in first and second, Brazil climb to sixth while Uruguay and Spain each drop a place to seventh and eighth respectively. The only other change in the top 10 sees France climb to ninth above Switzerland.

England are the biggest movers within the top 20, up two places to 18th on the back of wins 1-0 over Norway and 2-0 in Switzerland. That leaves Roy Hodgson's team one place behind United States, who also moved up one spot.

Algeria move up four places to 20th, to within touching distance of their highest-ever ranking of 19th from Nov. 2012.

Wales are up 12 places, level with Scotland in 29th, while Iceland's superb qualifying win over Turkey sees them climb 12 to a record 34th place. There was also all-time highs for Congo (up 30 places to 48th) and Antigua and Barbuda (up 69 places to 80th).

Guatemala were the biggest climbers with their three wins in qualifying for next year's CONCACAF Gold Cup shooting them up 77 to 57th.

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