An impressive win against Mexico in the recently completed international window wasn’t enough to see Gregg Berhalter’s team back in Top 10 of the latest FIFA Rankings.
The United States Men’s National Team saw their overall ranking get bolstered due to a convincing win over major rivals Mexico, then ranked ninth place in the world. However, after a dismal draw in Jamaica, any chance of a higher ranking, and pushing into the top ten, was thrown out of the window.
The USMNT had been ranked as high as tenth among the world’s elite teams, but a poor first round of World Cup qualification saw them drop three places to 13th in the last edition. The team now sits in 12th, directly behind Germany (11th) and the Netherlands (10th).
While the small jump may offer a small signal of things to come, fierce cross-border rivals Mexico dropped all of the way from ninth to 14th after consecutive losses to CONCACAF rivals USA and Canada, being outscored 4-1 on aggregate.
The next official international break will see the USMNT take on El Salvador (January 27, 2022) at home, Canada away (January 30th, 2022), and finally back at home against Honduras (February 2, 2022).
However the team will have one game in between, a friendly match on December 18 against Bosnia & Herzegovina, which will almost certainly feature a squad heavy on MLS players and others from leagues on long winter breaks.
FIFA World Rankings, including CONCACAF WCQ Pool rankings for comparison:
1. Belgium
2. Brazil
3. France
4. England
5. Argentina
6. Italy
7. Spain
8. Portugal
9. Denmark
10. Netherlands
11. Germany
12. USA (2nd in CONCACAF WCQ)
13. Switzerland
14. Mexico (3rd in CONCACAF WCQ)
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40. Canada (1st in CONCACAF WCQ)
49. Costa Rica (5th in CONCACAF WCQ)
57. Jamaica (6th in CONCACAF WCQ)
63. Panama (4th in CONCACAF WCQ)
69. El Salvador (7th in CONCACAF WCQ)
76. Honduras (8th in CONCACAF WCQ)
