The latest edition of the FIFA women’s world rankings was released on Friday and the big news is that the USWNT have dropped two places. For this first time in history the U.S. sit third in the world, their lowest ever ranking.
USWNT FIFA rankings
The latest Women’s FIFA World Rankings have dropped!
Which ranking surprises you the most? pic.twitter.com/fHV0LvjrkE— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 25, 2023
USWNT FALLS TO WORST-EVER RANKING ⬇️⚽️
In FIFA's latest women's world rankings, is No.3. That is the team's lowest-ever rank & ends 6-year spell at the top. is No.1 for 1st time, world champion No.2 & No.4. pic.twitter.com/VHfyb21MZo— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) August 25, 2023
This ends an over six-year run that saw the USWNT as the best team in the world. The last time a team sat above them in the rankings was March 2017 when Germany took the top spot.
If you’re unfamiliar with how the FIFA rankings work then you might be curious as to why Sweden, who finished third at the World Cup, sit above champions Spain.
The rankings are based on a point system that is quite the headache to calculate. All you really need to know is that FIFA awards a certain number of points over the course of month spans depending on a team’s results.
Sweden were given 19.46 points for their World Cup performances and jumped from third place to first. Spain got a whopping 49.56 points and moved from sixth to second.
Swedish goalkeeper Zecira Musovic posted to social media celebrating the achievement.
From an extra proud Swede today… Historical day and moment for Swedish football. Our small country has with a great amount of hard and dedicated work climbed all the way to the very top. Extremely blessed to be part of this journey pic.twitter.com/38dz6QOIO4
— Zećira Mušović (@ZeciraMusovic) August 25, 2023
It’s unlikely that the players of the USWNT will have much of a reaction to the historical drop. In a past press conference Sophia Smith gave her opinion on how much she cares about FIFA’s rankings.
“I don’t think anyone pays attention to those (FIFA rankings),” Smith said during a 2022 press conference. “We’re always going to be the best in the world and that’s our goal.
“A lot of people have their thoughts on who is what and that doesn’t matter us.”
The USWNT can help improve their next rankings as they have two friendlies vs. South Africa in September and two more against Colombia in October.
South Africa had a remarkable World Cup and qualified for the Round of 16. The performance moved the African nation from 54th in the world rankings to 45th.
Meanwhile Colombia elevated to 22nd in the world.
