FIFA World Rankings August 2021: Top 10 Nations
After a summer of intense international football action, FIFA has announced the latest world rankings for August 2021. As expected, Euro 2020 and Copa America 2021 winners, Italy and Argentina, have gained spots in the latest edition of FIFA's World Rankings while USA and Mexico break into the top 10 thanks to their good performances in the recently concluded Gold Cup.
Portugal's early elimination at Euro 2020 sees them drop a few spots, while France are also no longer ranked #2 in this month's FIFA World Rankings. Some traditional powerhouses like Germany, the Netherlands and Uruguay failed to make it to the top 10 while Denmark (WR 11) missed out narrowly despite an impressive performance at Euro 2020.
Without much ado, let us take a look at the top 10 nations in the FIFA World Rankings for August 2021.
Note: India is currently ranked #105 as per the FIFA rankings.
#10 USA | Points: 1648
The USMNT soccer team has had a great couple of months. They first won the CONCACAF Nations League Final 3-2 against Mexico before winning the Gold Cup final 1-0 against Mexico once again.
These impressive performances have seen the US football team jump up a massive 10 places from last time's rankings to make it into the top 10. With the likes of Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Sergino Dest among others, the USMNT has many players playing in top teams like Chelsea, Juventus and Barcelona.
With World Cup qualifiers coming up in September, fans in the US will be hoping that their team continues its good form and keeps performing at this high level.
#9 Mexico | Points: 1658
Mexico will be slightly disappointed with their performances in the last 2 months. Although they made it to both the Nations League and the Gold Cup Finals, they ended up losing to rivals USA in both the tournaments.
El Tri have some extremely talented players in their ranks. From the likes of Hirving Lozano to Jesus Corona, the Mexicans have a good amount of quality sprinkled right through their squad.
With talismanic striker Raul Jimenez returning to fitness after a horror injury, the Mexican national team will have another top quality attacker most likely joining their ranks for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in September.
#8 Portugal | Points: 1662
Portugal went into Euro 2020 with a lot of expectations. However, a lackluster performance saw Portugal crash out in the Round-of-16 against Belgium.
Portugal have an extremely talented squad led by the talismanic Cristiano Ronaldo. At 36, the 5-time Ballon d'Or winner is still going strong and even won the Euro 2020 Golden Boot despite Portugal bowing out of the tournament so early.
Portugal are currently joint top with Serbia in their World Cup qualifying group and will be hoping for some solid results in the September international break to consolidate their position at the top.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Co will be hoping to lead Portugal to another World Cup and higher up the FIFA World Rankings in the next edition.
Also read: The Best FIFA Men's Player Award 2021: Ranking the top 5 favorites - August 2021