The Canadian football team achieved a significant milestone in 2021, being recognized by FIFA as the “most improved team,” climbing to the 40th position in the FIFA rankings with 130.32 points. This improvement positions Canada favorably for potential qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2022, alongside teams like the USA (15), Mexico (14), and Panama (14). USA has to focus in all of three matches against Canada, Mexico and Panama while Slight edge can benefit Canada as topper of 2021.
Canada is on top with (16) points at the end of CONCAF 2021 round and in final round will face Honduras on 27th January in away match while will host USA (15 points) on 30th January. Canada who topped the group after 2-1 win over Mexico (14 points) at home soil commonwealth stadium in November 2021 will take Salvador (6 points) (Host) on 2nd February. Canada, encouraged by their draw against the USA on American soil and a strong 4-1 victory over Panama at BMO Field in Toronto, will face Costa Rica, who currently have 8 points, as visitors on 24th March. Canada’s next match against Jamaica (8 Points) will be played in Canada on 27th march 2022. The last match of Canada of CONCAF final round will be against Panama (14 Points) on 30th March and venue yet to be decide.
FIFA Ranking released in December 2021
• Belgium top the FIFA/Coca-Cola Rankings for the fourth consecutive year
• This year’s ‘Most Improved Side’ are Canada with a 130.32-point gain
• Qatar in Top 50 as we head into 2022
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, only 352 full internationals were played in 2020. It was the fewest number of matches since 1987 when 323 games were played. However, in 2021, planet football bounced back with a record-breaking 1116 matches played.
While the number of games fluctuated significantly from one year to the next, the top-ranked team in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking has stayed consistent. Belgium has maintained its position at the top for the fourth consecutive year, although it’s just ahead of Brazil by a narrow margin of 2.1 points. France (3rd) complete the podium for 2021.
Canada (40th) has been recognized as the “Most Improved Side” of the year, gaining a notable 130.32 points over the past 12 months. Their journey to the semi-finals of the 2021 Gold Cup as well as impressive results in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ qualifying have been major factors in their rise.
Winners of UEFA EURO 2020 and the Copa America 2021 respectively, Italy (6th + 115.77 points compared to December 2020) and Argentina (5th +108.51 points compared to December 2020), have also seen their points tally increase dramatically this year.
The same goes for the USA (11th + 103.51 points compared to December 2020) and England (4th + 85.52 points compared to December 2020). Equatorial Guinea (114th + 59.78 points compared to December 2020) made the most impressive progress among African teams, while Saudi Arabia (51st + 81.71 points compared to December 2020) did the same in Asia.
However, just in terms of last month, the most improved Asian team are Indonesia (164th + 11.13 points). Winners of the FIFA Arab Cup 2021™, Algeria (29th +3) jointly made the best progress in terms of places, along with Qatar (48th + 3), who finished third at the tournament, and Thailand (115th +3).
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The upcoming FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be released on February 10, 2022.
Leader Belgium (unchanged)
Countries entering the Top 10 None
Countries exiting the Top 10 None
Total matches played 58
Most matches played Algeria, Egypt, Qatar, Tunisia (6 matches)
Biggest increase in points Indonesia (up 11.13 points)
Biggest increase in places Algeria, Qatar, Thailand (plus 3 places)
Biggest drop in points Myanmar (minus 8.01 points)
Biggest drop in places Myanmar (minus 4 places)
Countries joining the Ranking None
Countries leaving the Ranking None
Unranked inactive teams Cook Islands