AUGUST’S SCORELESS DRAW against Serbia had no effect on the Republic of Ireland’s place in the FIFA World Rankings, leaving Giovanni Trapattoni’s men unchanged in 26th as they set out on the road to Rio.
The Boys in Green begin their World Cup qualifying campaign in Astana on Friday against a Kazakhstan side ranked 142nd in the latest update, released on Wednesday morning. Miroslav Beranek’s side, whose last game was a friendly defeat against Armenia in June, move up three places.
Ireland plummeted eight places from 18th to 26th in July as the impact of a disappointing Euro 2012 campaign filtered through to the rankings table. Ireland were the first team to be eliminated from the championships, with no points and just one goal from their three group games.
The top three countries in the world remain unchanged with world and double European champions Spain leading the way from Germany and England. Portugal move up one place to fourth, leapfrogging Uruguay who drop to fifth.
Italy, Argentina, Netherlands, Croatia and Denmark round out the rest of the top 10.
