The final FIFA rankings prior to the start of this summer’s major tournaments were released on Thursday, with Copa America Centenario participants holding five of the top-nine spots.
The US men's national team dropped two spots ahead of their Copa America opener against Colombia on Friday (9:30 pm ET; FS1, Univision, UDN), falling to No. 31. Colombia rose one spot, with Los Cafeteros moving all the way up to No. 3 in the world. The US’ other Group A opponents, Costa Rica and Paraguay, are ranked No. 23 and No. 44, respectively.
Copa favorites Argentina retained the No. 1 spot, while fellow South American nations Chile (No. 5), Brazil (No. 7) and Uruguay (No. 9) also were ranked in the top 10.
Mexico is the highest-ranked CONCACAF country, coming in at No. 16. They’re followed by Costa Rica at No. 23. There’s a bit of a drop after the US at No. 31, with Copa participants Jamaica clocking in at No. 46, Panama at No. 56, and Haiti at No. 74.
Canada, who will face Azerbaijan in a friendly on Friday, moved up two spots to No. 93.
In Europe, Montreal Impact defender Laurent Ciman and Belgium remained at No. 2 ahead of the start of UEFA Euro 2016 next week. Robbie Keane’s Ireland fell two spots to No. 33, while Shkelzen Gashi and Albania moved up three places to No. 42 ahead of their appearances at the tournament in France. Italy, which didn’t call Toronto FC’s Sebastian Giovinco or New York City FC’s Andrea Pirlo to their final Euro roster, climbed three places to No. 12.
