IRELAND HAVE RISEN four places in the latest FIFA world rankings, moving above Israel, South Africa and Albania.
The Boys In Green now lie in 66th place in the latest table, one place and 16 ranking points behind the United Arab Emirates.
Some of the teams ahead of Martin O’Neill’s side include Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Panama.
The top six teams are unchanged since the table was last updated after the World Cup with world champions Germany still occupying top spot, as expected. England remain in 20th place after their dramatic drop following their abysmal World Cup campaign.
Of Ireland’s Euro 2016 qualification opponents only Georgia are ranked lower, in 95th place. Gibraltar are not on the list at all however, having not yet received full FIFA membership.
Ali Al-Habsi’s Oman, who Ireland will meet in a friendly in the Aviva Stadium next month, lie just one spot below The Boys In Green.