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U.S. moves into top 25 in FIFA rankings

Christian Pulisic of the U.S. moves the ball past Trinidad & Tobago's Joevin Jones on Sept. 6.
(John Raoux / Associated Press)
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The U.S. jumped four spots to 22nd in the latest FIFA world rankings Thursday, its best performance in three years.

Argentina retained the No. 1 spot in the September poll ahead of Belgium. Germany moved up to third ahead of Colombia and Brazil, which tied for fourth. Brazil, which won its first Olympic title last month, moved up five places, the biggest improvement in the top 20.

The monthly FIFA rankings are determined by a complicated formula in which points are awarded based on results from FIFA-recognized international matches over the last four years. Recent results and more significant matches are more heavily weighted to reflect the current competitive state of a team.

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Copa America champion Chile, European champion Portugal, European Championship runner-up France, Uruguay and Wales rounded out the top 10.

Mexico dropped one spot to 15th while Costa Rica gained three spots to enter the top 20 at 18.

The U.S. opens the next round of World Cup qualifying in November against Mexico and Costa Rica.

Back-in-the-pack Bolivia was the biggest moving, leaping a whopping 35 spots, to No. 75 overall.

The top 25:

Country (movement since August)

1. Argentina (0)

2. Belgium (0)

3. Germany (+1)

4t. Colombia (-1)

4t. Brazil (+5)

6. Chile (-1)

7. Portugal (-1)

8. France (-1)

9. Uruguay (+3)

10. Wales (+1)

11. Spain (-3)

12. England (+1)

13. Italy (-3)

14. Croatia (+1)

15. Mexico (-1)

16. Switzerland (+2)

17. Poland (-1)

18. Costa Rica (+3)

19. Ecuador (-2)

20. Hungary (-1)

21. Turkey (-2)

22. U.S. (+4)

23. Bosnia and Herzegovina (+6)

24. Netherlands (+2)

25. Peru (+8)

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