By Canadian Press

Lionesses move up to No. 4 while Canada falls to No. 7 in FIFA women’s rankings

Aug 5, 2022 | 7:28 AM

Canada dropped one place to No. 7 while newly crowned European champion England jumped four places to No. 4 in the new FIFA women’s world rankings.

The U.S., fresh from its 1-0 CONCACAF W Championship win over the Canadian women on July 18, remained atop the rankings. European runner-up Germany climbed three places to No. 2 with European semifinalist Sweden falling one rung to No. 3.

France dropped behind England, slipping two places to No. 5. The Dutch were No. 6, down two spots.

Spain, down one place, was No. 8 after Olympic champion Canada. Brazil and North Korea, both unchanged, filled out the rest of the top 10.

The Canadian women have never gone higher than No. 4 in the rankings. Canada first made it to No. 4 after winning bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics, moving up six spots in the wake of beating host Brazil 2-1 in the third-place match.

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The Canadians fell to No. 5 in March 2017, returning to No. 4 that June. Canada bounced between No. 4 and 5 until it fell to No. 7 in June 2019 and No. 8 in December 2019.

Bev Priestman’s team climbed back to No. 6 in Aug. 21 after its gold medal performance at the Tokyo Olympics.

July saw five major women’s tournaments take place across the globe. In addition to Euro 2022, there was the CONCACAF W Championship with continental competitions in Africa, South America, and Oceania also serving as World Cup qualifiers.

Some 221 matches were played since the last women’s rankings were issued June 17.

Jamaica, in the wake of its third-place finish at the CONCACAF W Championship in Mexico, achieved an all-time high by jumping nine spots to No. 42. Mexico, which failed to reach the CONCACAF semifinals, fell the farthest in the rankings — dropping 10 places to No. 36.

Like England’s Lionesses, South Africa moved up four places to No. 53 after its CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations win.

African semifinalist Zambia was the big mover of the month, vaulting 23 places to No. 80. Others reaching new heights included Iceland (No. 14, up three), Ireland (No. 26, up one), Portugal (No. 27, up three) and Zambia.

The next women’s rankings will be published Oct. 13, ahead of the Oct. 22 draw for the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2022

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press