IRELAND HAVE dropped two places to 55th in the world, as the latest Fifa rankings were released today.

A difficult international window saw the side lose two vital Euro qualifiers against France and the Netherlands.

Those results led to question marks over coach Stephen Kenny’s future, although the Football Association of Ireland recently confirmed they will not make a call on the embattled manager until November — after the group campaign has ended but before a potential playoff to qualify for the Euros.

The largely disappointing results of the Kenny era have been reflected in Ireland’s status in the Fifa rankings — Ireland were ranked 34th when the former Dundalk boss took over and the team have dropped 21 places in the three years since he took charge.

Teams currently ahead of Ireland include Panama, Venezuela, Mali and group rivals Greece, who had been seeded in the pot below Ireland when the qualifying draw was made.

Elsewhere, the top five remains unchanged, with world champions Argentina first followed by France, Brazil, England and Belgium.

Scotland, who are on the brink of qualifying for the Euros, drop one place to 31st following their recent friendly loss against England.

Wales are two places below Steve Clarke’s men in 33rd, moving up two places.

Finally, Northern Ireland are 19 places below the Republic in 74th.

They dropped 10 places following a disappointing window in which they suffered a 4-2 defeat to Slovakia, prompting manager Michael O’Neill to admit that their hopes of reaching Euro 2024 were all but over.

You can view the rankings in full here.