Canadian soccer men reach all-time high at 30 in FIFA world rankings

Canada climbed one spot to an all-time best No. 30 in the latest FIFA rankings released Thursday.

The Canadian men had reached their previous high in November after climbing four places to No. 31. They were unchanged in the end-of-year December list.

Canada had previously been as high as No. 33, achieved in February 2022 under former head coach John Herdman after turning heads with an unbeaten run in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying and being named the "Most Improved Side" in 2021 by FIFA.

Canada's lowest ranking was No. 122 in October 2014.

The latest move up comes in the wake of last month's 2-1 win over the U.S. and 2-0 loss to Mexico in CONCACAF Nations League Finals play.

The Canadian men started 2024 in 48th place, falling to No. 50 in February, and were ranked 49th in the world when Jesse Marsch took over as coach in mid-May. Since then, the team has been on a steady climb to No. 48, 40, 38, 35, 31 and now 30.

Canada's next games are against No. 25 Ukraine and No. 41 Ivory Coast at the Canadian Shield Tournament in June.

The U.S. remains unchanged at No. 16 to top CONCACAF teams with Mexico, up two places, at No. 17. Panama, which beat the U.S. in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinal, is fourth in the region at No. 33 after rising three places.

Argentina remains No. 1 overall after victories over No. 5 Brazil and No. 13 Uruguay, with Spain leapfrogging France to take over at No. 2. The French, who lost 2-0 to Croatia before rallying to win their UEFA Nations League quarterfinal in a penalty shootout, are No. 3 followed by England and Brazil.

The Dutch overtake Portugal to move into No. 6 with Belgium, Italy and Germany completing the top 10.

No. 11 Croatia and No. 12 Morocco, both up two places, are just outside the top 10.

Other countries moving up were Norway (No. 38, up five), Czechia (No. 39, up three) and the Ivory Coast (No. 41, up five). Paraguay (No. 48, up five) and Tunisia (No. 49, up three) returned to the top 50.

Myanmar (No. 162, up seven) was the biggest climber, jumping seven spots to No. 162. Guinea-Bissau suffered the biggest drop, down eight places to No. 128.

A total of 245 internationals have been played since the December rankings. Teams from Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America were involved in World Cup qualifying while CONCACAF and UEFA sides took part in Nations League competitions and friendlies.