It didn't come as a surprise to many that Ireland dropped a few places in the FIFA World Rankings when they were announced today. After all, they've won just one of their last 16 games, and managed just a draw at home to Azerbaijan in the last international window.
In fact, many have expressed surprise that Ireland have even held on to a place in the top 50, even even by the bare minimum. While many are lamenting Irish senior football being in its worst place in memory, it's in fact still some way from our rock bottom in world ranking terms.
Between 2013 and 2015, Ireland spent almost three full years outside the world's top 50, even dropping to a low of 70 in June 2014.
Ireland have scaled remarkable highs in the World rankings in the past though. Here are our glory days:
Summer, 1993 - 6th
The inaugural FIFA world rankings were put out in August 1993 and Ireland shot straight in at no. 6. They have never been as high since.
Jack Charlton's Ireland had been a model of consistency for six straight years at that point and the 1994 World Cup qualifying campaign was going swimmingly (it would later get bogged down in difficulties following a 3-1 loss at home to Spain that autumn).
Ireland began positively by drawing in Seville and Copenhagen in the autumn of '92. They spanked Northern Ireland 3-0 in Dublin in early '93, a match which was deemed 'a real statement'. We were polished in away games against Latvia and Lithuania. Our footballing stock had arguably never been higher. The FIFA world rankings that summer reflected this.
Brazil (8), France (12), Spain (13), Holland (16) and England (11) are a selection of teams Ireland were ahead of at that time.
Here's the top 10 during that glorious summer.
1. Germany, 2. Italy, 3. Switzerland, 4. Sweden, 5. Argentina, 6. Republic of Ireland, 7. Russia, 8. Brazil, 9. Norway, 10. Denmark
Post World Cup, 1994 - 9th
Anyone who began watching Ireland in the first half of 1994 would have struggled to believe their luck growing up in such a powerhouse of a football nation.
In friendlies before USA 94, Ireland beat Holland 1-0 away thanks to a goal from Tommy Coyne and Germany 2-0 in Hanover, thanks to goals from Tony Cascarino and Gary Kelly. And then after a forgettable loss to the Czech Republic, they went and beat Italy in the first game in the World Cup proper.
So, the World Cup went very flat very quickly after that high but still, ninth in the world at the end of it all was not bad.
Post-Tehran 2001 - 17th
The boys who went to Tehran and defied the bullish predictions of the locals were rewarded with a World Cup place and they lay at no.17 in the world at year's end.
As the game tipped into injury time, the Azadi Stadium resembled Belfast on the 12th as Iran's World Cup hopes went up in flames along with the terracing.
A violent dip in Ireland's world ranking position in the early Mick McCarthy era (principally brought about by an appalling early friendly record) was corrected in the latter half of his reign.
Post World Cup, 2002 - 14th
Despite the Saipan shenanigans, Ireland rallied to better their world ranking position by the World Cup's end following the Summer of Duffer as it should henceforth be known.
So many other European sides made a hames of the 2002 World Cup, so Ireland, one of the few who did themselves justice, rose to 14th.
Brian Kerr's Friendly Roll, 2004 - 12th
One of the more curious and surprising high points in Irish world ranking history. 2004 was the year we became the unofficial world champions once more after a victory over Czech Republic.
Romania, Portugal, Croatia and Holland (away) were also humbled as Ireland established themselves as kings of the friendly.
Sadly, Brian Kerr's genius for engineering friendly victories didn't quite transfer to competitive fixtures. But even on that front things remained promising during 2004.
Ireland only had a few competitive games that year but they hung in there, beating Cyprus at home, then drawing impressively in Paris and then drawing somewhat less impressively in Switzerland.
Post Estonia, 2011 - 18th
After plumbing the depths in 2006 and 2007, Ireland experienced a renaissance in 2011, aided by the fact that Trap's teams didn't concede goals that year, even when they patently deserved to.
They went eight games without conceding a goal in the middle of 2011 and did enough to ensure qualification for 2012. On the surface all looked well, but it turned out to be a bit of a cod. In retrospective, Ireland benefited from a reasonable qualifying group - in which our main rivals the Slovakians had a shocker - and getting what everyone agreed was 'the jackpot draw' in the playoffs.
The following summer we would drop like a stone.
It's been a little bit up and down since. Ireland seem to gravitate towards a spot in the early 30s most of the time. In January 2017, under Martin O'Neill, we briefly hit the heights of 23. Two years ago, in September 2019, Mick McCarthy went into the 20s (28) for one window. Stephen Kenny took over in 34th, but there's been a steady drop since.
SEE ALSO: Nickname Put Damien Duff Off Chelsea Nights Out With English Players
