WORLD CUP WINNERS France and third-placed Belgium are the first teams to share top spot in the Fifa rankings in the classification’s 25-year history.
Roberto Martinez’s side, defeated by Les Bleus in the semi-finals at Russia 2018 before beating England in the third-place play-off , overcame Scotland 4-0 in a friendly and won their Nations League debut 3-0 against Iceland earlier this month to join the world champions at the summit.
France, meanwhile, were held to a goalless draw by Germany in Munich before beating Netherlands 2-1 in Nations League Group A1.
The Republic of Ireland are down one place to 30th, having suffered a heavy loss to Wales in their Nations League opener before drawing in a friendly with Poland.
The only other change in the top 10 saw Denmark slip down one place to 10th, below Spain.
After their humiliating group-stage exit at the World Cup, Germany rose a further three positions and now sit 12th. The biggest movers were Ukraine, who climbed six spots to 29th courtesy of Nations League triumphs over Czech Republic and Slovakia.
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He’s like a piece of Iron, In BOD we trust.
Good man Brian!
Brian O Driscoll is a legend. Irish Rugby wont be the same when he retires.
The best and most professional player ever to play in a green shirt. He is right too.
What an absolute legend this man is! Good on ya Drico, that you weren’t born in Limerick or Cork is all I ever disliked about ya!
Its a shame his success at international is been hindered by a poor coaching ticket.
A great player no doubt and a great ambassador for the game. is he past his prime, in my opinion yes. He is. Ronan, do you think that’s valid? would you rather not have an opinion and merely comment on the opinions of others. A whole…….
I agree he had a good game against Edinburgh. He may not have the pace of when he was younger – but his try against Treviso showed he reads a game like no one else. It has been a privilege to be able to watch him over the years.
Hope you help to deliver a third Heineken cup in a row in Landowne Road in May BOD!
He’s the Javier Zanetti of rugby!
Terrible against edinburgh. He knows well enough it’s over for him this season.thanks for the memories. Dignity is important.
The punishment that man’s body has taken is incredible. He’ll finish up in a wheelchair if he doesn’t give it up shortly.
U either didnt watch the game or ur clueless (or trolling).
Of course hes past his prime – but still has a lot to give. U said he was terrible against edinburgh. Which he clearly was not.
Yawn
Your obviously clueless or a Munster fan
He was about the only decent performer against Edinburgh. De Luca did nothing all game
The headline does not in any way reflect what O’Driscoll actually said, have just listened to the interview on Newstalk!
First few lines say that BOD has “given his strongest indications yet that he would love to stick around for another crack at World Cup success.”, but further down the man himself says: “We’ll deal with the November Series first and, hopefully if I’m still in the mix, the Six Nations next year. After that is still too far away to be considering.”
Any chance you could reconcile that a bit Patrick, because it’s fairly misleading I think?
he should do what the likes of d. o’callaghan and others do. retire. but keep playing for ireland
“Brian O’Driscoll rules out retirement and targets World Cup success.” What does success mean, daddy? Well, son, it means: 1. Qualifying. 2. Not losing to Georgia. 3. Beating England. 4. Going out at 1/4 final stage but taking heart from the fact that we have “learned a lot from this experience” and being on a “steep learning curve.” But does success not mean winning, daddy? Ah no, son. Only if you’re from New Zealand.