LONDON: Sweden has knocked the United States off the top of the FIFA women’s rankings for the first time in more than six years while Spain also moved above the U.S. after winning its first World Cup last weekend.
Spain climbed from sixth to second, demoting the U.S. to third, while runner-up England and quarterfinalist France remained fourth and fifth in the latest rankings published on Friday.
Sweden, third before the World Cup, joined Germany as the only other team to have led the rankings after beating tournament co-host Australia to win bronze.
The U.S., which had held the number one spot since June 2017 and won back-to-back World Cups in 2015 and 2019, slipped out of the top two for the first time since FIFA introduced the rankings in 2003.
It recorded its worst performance at a World Cup after being knocked out by Sweden in a shootout in the last 16.
Australia dropped one place to 11th despite finishing fourth at the World Cup, with Japan (eighth) returning to the top 10 following a run to the quarter-finals. Co-host New Zealand remains 26th after its group stage exit.
Germany dropped four places to sixth and Olympic champion Canada fell three places to 10th after both sides failed to advance to the knockout rounds.
World Cup debutant Morocco was the biggest mover, jumping 14 places to 58th. Agencies
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