Their re-entry to the rankings is due to a solid performance at the XIV Pacific Games, the football tournaments of which were held from October 27 to September 9 in New Caledonia.
Coach Frank Farina guided the team to wins over Cook Islands and Kiribati, as well as a 1-1 draw with Tahiti, who went on to win bronze. The only major slip-up was a 2-0 loss to Fiji in the last group match – a result that cost Farina’s men a place in the semi-finals by the slimmest of margins.
The defeat meant they were tied on seven points with Tahiti but missed out on a goal differential of just two strikes.
The men’s teams of the other ten OFC member associations have also been included in the latest FIFA rankings and their placings are as follows: New Zealand (89), Fiji (146), New Caledonia (154), Vanuatu (173), Solomon Islands (179), Tahiti (184), Cook Islands (197), Tonga (201), American Samoa (203) and Samoa (203).
At the top of the pile, the Netherlands have had to relinquish top place to world champions Spain – the pair swapping first and second place – while England have taken a tumble (8th, down four) and Germany (third, unchanged) now sit directly above Uruguay (fourth, up one), who occupy their highest-ever position on the global ladder.
Other movers towards the summit are Portugal (fifth, up three), Italy (sixth, up one) and Brazil (seventh, down one).
Elsewhere in the top 50, Switzerland (18th, up 12), Bosnia-Herzegovina (22nd, up 17), Hungary (27th, up 18) and Armenia (44th, up 27) have all made good progress.
Outside the top 50, meanwhile, no fewer than six teams leap more than 20 places: Estonia (58th, up 28), Sierra Leone (68th, up 24), Wales (90th, up 27), Togo (95th, up 26), Namibia (119th, up 24) and Nicaragua (155th, up 24).
By and large, the highest climbers of the month won one or more of their FIFA World Cup or continental qualifying matches. As a result of the major shake-up, several teams are now in their best-ever positions since the introduction of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, namely Uruguay, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Hungary (27th, up 18), Armenia (44th, up 27), Estonia (58th, up 28) and Belize (133rd, up 15).
The high level of movement in this latest edition is the result of 170 ‘A’ international matches, of which 109 were FIFA World Cup or continental qualifiers and 61 were friendlies.
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola Ranking will be published on 19 October 2011.
For more on the world game go to www.fifa.com

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