The Red Dragons have slain the Three Lions. For the first time ever, Wales have risen above England in the official FIFA world rankings.
In FIFA's updated rankings released on Thursday morning, Wales held on to ninth place while England slipped from eighth to 10th. This is the first time Wales have been ranked above England since the system was introduced in 1992.
Wales' manager Chris Coleman welcomed the news as a "confidence boost" ahead of two crucial matches against Cyprus and Israel in their bid to qualify for the 2016 European Championships in France. "We've been low in the rankings and had that rubbed in our face many a time. Now we're doing very well, certain people want to say the rankings are this and they're that, but the players deserve it," said Coleman.
Wales entered the FIFA top 10 for the first time ever in July and the latest rankings marks an exponential rise for the team, who were ranked 117th as recently as August 2011. Besides Chile and England swapping 10th and eighth positions, the rest of the top 10 remained the same, with Argentina coming out on top, ahead of Belgium and Germany.
While a number of Welsh fans took to social media to express their delight at overtaking their historic rivals, English football pundit Jake Humphrey was perplexed as to how England have remained in the top 10. England have won all six of the Euro 2016 qualifiers and sit top of their group but recently played out a 0-0 friendly draw with the Republic of Ireland which was criticised as one of the team's most boring matches ever.
People all asking how are #Wales above #England in the FIFA rankings. I'm only asking how #England are still in the top
FIFA world rankings are determined by a formula which takes into account all FIFA-recognised international matches over the past four years, including tournament games, qualifiers and friendlies. The formula considers the importance of the match, strength of the opposition and the confederation to which the opposition belong.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Conor is a staff writer for Newsweek covering Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, security and conflict.
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
