Russian Team Up 21 Places to 49th in FIFA World Ranking After Home World Cup - FIFA

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th August, 2018) The Russian national football team has moved up 21 places and is now 49th in the latest FIFA World Ranking, released on FIFA's official website on Thursday.

Russia was ranked 70th in the previous edition of the ranking, published in June ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which the country hosted this summer. This was Russia's worst result ever. Russia's 21-place jump is the best progress ever made by a national team, earning it the designation of "best mover."

France, this year's World Cup winner, topped the list of countries in the latest ranking.

The FIFA World Ranking, first published in December 1992, is a listing of the national teams of FIFA's member states, where they are ranked according to their results from international matches. While the ranking is published every month, the July 2018 release was canceled over the implementation of a new calculation method.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup was held in 11 Russian cities from June 14 to July 15. The host nation reached the quarterfinals, which is Russia's best result since the end of the Soviet era.