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Fresh from their triumph at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™, the USA have reclaimed pole position in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking, relegating Germany to second place by some distance. The two heavyweights in women’s football went toe to toe in the semi-finals in Montreal, with the Americans prevailing to secure the top slot.
Quarter-finalists France retain a narrow advantage in third place over Japan, despite the latter making it all the way to the final. The leading pack now has a new challenger in the shape of England, who have attained their highest-ever position after reaching the semi-finals and defeating Germany in the match for third place.
Elsewhere in the top ten, Sweden have lost further ground by slipping to seventh, while World Cup hosts Canada have dropped out of the top ten altogether after just two wins in five games against lesser-ranked teams, falling three places to 11th.
In addition to England, three teams are now in their highest-ever position: Colombia (25th, up 3), Costa Rica (34th, up 3) and Cameroon (43rd, up ten). Cameroon beat two higher-ranked teams in Ecuador and Switzerland and only lost by one goal to Japan and China PR respectively. Six teams (Indonesia, Congo, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Gabon and Kenya) have re-entered the ranking after long periods of inactivity, which means that 141 teams are currently ranked – the highest total since December 2007.
Leader
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USA
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Moves into top ten
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Norway (10th, up 1)
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Moves out of top ten
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Canada (11th, down 3)
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Matches played in total
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138
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Most matches played
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USA (11)
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Biggest move by ranks
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Cameroon (43rd, up 10)
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Biggest drop by ranks
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Ecuador (54th, down 6), Zimbabwe (104th, down 6)
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Newly ranked teams
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Indonesia, Congo, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Gabon, Kenya
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Teams that are no longer ranked
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Singapore, Lesotho
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