By:
Mark Hendry
Republic of Ireland have learned their most up to date FIFA World ranking this week.
Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side take on Czechia in the World Cup playoff semi-final in March.
And they will do so knowing they are currently ranked 59th in the world.
The latest stats were released on Monday night and sees the Irish retain their spot with no movement up or down.
The nation may feel hard done by considering their most recent clashes.
Ireland defeated Portugal and Hungary in dramatic fashion in World Cup qualification.
Those performances and victories might have had the Irish feeling deserving of improvement.
Republic of Ireland sit 59th in FIFA World rankings
But with the African Cup of Nations taking place recently, AFCON had a big impact on the results.
Still, Ireland can be proud of where they stand with their opponents Czechia sitting 43rd.
The placings will surely have little bearing on the result in Prague when the tie rolls around.
Yet it will provide, perhaps, a bit of a psychological advantage for Miroslav Koubek’s Czechs.
Elsewhere in the rankings, Scotland dropped down two spots from 36th to 38th.
Northern Ireland retained their spot in 69th while Craig Bellamy’s Wales sit 35th having dropped three spots.
To round off the rest of the home nations, England are fourth in the table behind other heavyweights.
The biggest climber in the rankings in the latest numbers was Cameroon who moved up 12 spots.
Elsewhere, Equatorial Guinea fell 10 places as the biggest drop in the rankings.
Spain, thanks to their Euro 2024 success and their Nations League runner-up spot last year, are top.
They take the number one spot in the World while World Cup holders Argentina are second.
France, England and Brazil make up the rest of the top five.
How Ireland compare in FIFA ranking to Czechia, Denmark and North Macedonia
Hallgrimsson will know rankings don’t mean too much where results are concerned.
That is why the Irish will go into their playoff clash knowing they’re in with a shot of making the final.
If they can get past Czechia they will take on either Denmark or North Macedonia.
In terms of the rankings, the Danes lie 21st in the World while their coming opponents are 66th.
There is a clear gap between those two nations, too, and yet both have a chance of making the tournament.
Ireland have plenty of players desperate to be called into Hallgrimsson’s squad in March.
Warren O’Hora and Jamie McGrath at Hibs in Scotland’s Premiership are pushing.
Barnsley captain Luca Connell also wants an Ireland call and continues to impress.
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