FIFA Rankings: Croatia drops out of top 10 

(Photo credit: Ivan Del Val/Global Imagens/via www.imago-image)

Croatia has dropped out of the top 10 on the FIFA Rankings which were released on Thursday. 

Croatia was ranked 9th in the world going into this month’s internationals but after losses to Sweden (2-1) and Portugal (3-2), they have dropped out of the top 10 to be now ranked 11th. 

Belgium is still ranked the No. 1 team in the world, just ahead of world champions France and Brazil. Italy and Mexico are newcomers to the top 10 with Croatia and Colombia dropping out. 

FIFA rankings (Screenshot)

Despite dropping out, Croatia has still secured a top seed spot for the draw for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.    

55 teams have been allocated to six pots – five containing 10 teams and one containing five teams – based on the latest FIFA world rankings.

Croatia is in Pot 1 and will therefore avoid Belgium, France, England, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands.

European seedings for World Cup qualifying draw:

Pot 1: Belgium, France, England, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands.

Pot 2: Switzerland, Wales, Poland, Sweden, Austria, Ukraine, Serbia, Turkey, Slovakia, Romania.

Pot 3: Russia, Hungary, Ireland, Czech Republic, Norway, Northern Ireland, Iceland, Scotland, Greece, Finland.

Pot 4: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Israel, Belarus, Georgia, Luxembourg.

Pot 5: Armenia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Andorra.

Pot 6: Malta, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar, San Marino.

All teams within a group will play each other twice in a home and away format between March and November 2021.13 of the 32 teams that will compete at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be from Europe.

When is the 2022 World Cup qualifying draw? 

The draw for the European teams takes place on Monday, December 7 in Zurich, Switzerland.