The Icelandic nation team in men’s football continues to climb the FIFA World Ranking and has never been listed higher, now in 28th place between Ecuador and Austria, up by six spots from number 34 last month. The latest ranking was published this morning.
There are no changes to the top three seats. World Champion Germany remains firmly at number 1, followed by Argentina and Columbia.
Iceland has surpassed its Nordic neighbors Denmark (number 32) and Sweden (number 39)—the countries plummeted by five and seven spots, respectively—and is now the highest-ranking Nordic nation. Finland places 63rd and Norway 68th, ruv.is reports.
Iceland has climbed 103 spots since April 2012 when it placed 131rd, 13 spots below another Nordic neighbor, The Faroe Islands, now at number 187.
Iceland attributes its newfound success to a new generation of talented footballers and Swedish coach Lars Lagerbäck, who took over in the autumn of 2011. The team’s latest achievement was beating The Netherlands, the bronze medalist from this year’s World Cup, 2-0 at home court earlier this month.
The Icelandic women’s team ranks even higher than the men’s team, number 20 in the latest FIFA World Ranking, down three spots from last month.
