IRELAND HAVE JUMPED up five places in the latest Fifa World Rankings that were released today, following a pair of opening wins for Mick McCarthy’s side in the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
The start of McCarthy’s second spell in charge at the end of last month witnessed a 1-0 win away to Gilbraltar thanks to a Jeff Hendrick strike and a 1-0 victory at home against Georgia after Conor Hourihane netted.
Ireland stand top of Group D after two games with full points ahead of their trip to face Denmark in June and a home game against Gibraltar three days later.
As a result they move up five spots to 29th alongside Serbia and Venezuela. That was a ranking they previously enjoyed last August in the first rankings released after the World Cup in Russia.
Elsewhere Belgium remain in top spot ahead of World Cup winners France in second and Brazil in third while England have moved ahead of Croatia into fourth place. Gareth Southgate’s side were in impressive form in their opening qualifiers in Group A as they thrashed Czech Republic 5-0 at home before cruising to a 5-1 victory away to Montenegro.
Northern Ireland rise three places to 33rd after they won their opening two games in Group D with Wales staying put in 19th and Scotland falling four places to 44th.
Check out the full list of rankings here.
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