The latest FIFA ranking was released on Thursday, June 7, 2018.
The Croatia national football team has dropped two places in the latest FIFA ranking, which was announced seven days before the start of the World Cup in Russia. They now stand as the 20th best national team in the world, reports Index.hr on June 7, 2018. Compared to last month, Croatia is down 30 points on the list.
The 74 friendly and preparatory matches for the World Cup, which were played in May, did not contribute to any significant changes on the FIFA ranking. Germany is still in first place, followed by Brazil in second and Belgium in third. The national team of Argentina, who is grouped with Croatia in Group D at the World Cup in Russia, remains in fifth place as they were last month. One change did occur among the top ten, which saw Poland climb from tenth to eighth, while Spain dropped from eighth to tenth.
Of Croatia’s remaining World Cup rivals in Group D, Iceland remained in 22nd place while Nigeria is placed 47th.
Apart from Spain, whose ranking we already mentioned, Croatia’s other rival in the UEFA Nations League, England moved up a place to be the 12th best national team in the world.
The next FIFA ranking will be released on July 19 after the World Cup finals in Russia.
There has been significant interest in Croatia’s final friendly match before the 2018 World Cup, which will be played against Senegal on Friday, June 8, 2018, at Osijek’s City Garden Stadium. The game completely sold out two days ahead of time.
Croatia’s first World Cup game will be against Nigeria on Saturday, June 16, 2018, at 21:00.
