FIFA World Ranking: Belgium to take over No. 1 spot from Argentina

Posted Wednesday, October 14, 2015 by ESPN

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Belgium will take over the No. 1 spot in the FIFA World Ranking in November following a 3-1 home win versus Israel on Tuesday.

The Belgians were third in the most recent ranking published at the start of the month, but with Germany losing in Republic of Ireland and current No. 1 Argentina losing at home to Ecuador, the win against Israel puts them in the top spot for the first time in their history.

The victory put Belgium on 1440 ranking points, and even if Argentina win in Paraguay on Tuesday night they can score no more than 1429. Germany's score in the next ranking, which is released on Nov. 5, will be 1388 as they have already played their two games.

Belgium were as low as 66th in the ranking in 2009, so moving to the very top in the space of six years is a remarkable achievement.

The difference in ranking points was narrow enough that if Belgium lost at home to Israel they could have dropped out of the top three below Portugal and could also have been overtaken by Colombia.

Wales' short spell in the top 10 will come to an end next month, with the best position they can hope for being 12th -- though they are likely to drop further than that once all games have been played.

Marc Wilmots has masterminded Belgium's march to the No. 1 position.

Uruguay could be one of the big climbers inside the top 20 after their opening World Cup qualifiers. Currently in 20th, victory at home to Colombia will see them move up to 13th at the very least, and likely a few places higher.

Belgium coach Marc Wilmots had another reason not to take his side's final Euro 2016 qualifier lightly, as victory, combined with a Netherlands loss on Tuesday and Italy's 2-1 win against Norway, earned Belgium a seeded spot in pot 1 for next summer's finals alongside France, Spain, Germany, England and Portugal.