Everybody knows that the FIFA rankings mean nothing, except that they are really, really important when it comes to determining the seeds for both Euro and World Cup qualifying groups, which makes them really, really important overall.
On the latest update, made public at the start of June, Ireland were sitting in 33rd within touching distance of our Welsh friends across the water who were within touching distance at 26.
When the rankings update next, that gap will have grown a significant amount.
Official confirmation has not yet come through, but a number of journalists have crunched the numbers and are expecting Wales to rise to the nose-bleed-inducing heights of 6th place.
Wales currently on course to rise to 6th in the world in the July FIFA Ranking.
— Dale Johnson (@dalejohnsonESPN) July 2, 2016
World rankings:
1 Argentina
2 Belgium
3 Germany
4 Colombia
5 Chile
6 #WAL
7 Italy
8 Spain
9 Brazil
10 Portugal
(via @2010MisterChip)— TheWelshDragon (@TheWelshDragon9) July 2, 2016
TOP-10 Ranking FIFA ahora mismo:
01 Argentina
02 #BEL
03 #GER
04 Colombia
05 Chile
06 #WAL <<<< ¡OJO!
07 #ITA
08 #ESP
09 Brasil
10 #POR— MisterChip (Alexis) (@2010MisterChip) July 1, 2016
Results over Northern Ireland and Slovakia, who were one and two places respectively ahead of Wales in the last update will be a big boost, and by reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2016 with a win over previously #2 ranked Belgium they have ensured enough to crack the top 10 and beating their previous best ever ranking which was #8 after the secured Euro 2016 qualification in October 2015.
Somehow, Wales had managed to fall from #8 then to #26 by the start of June, but if they can manage to hang around through the 2018 World Cup qualifiers then they could easily be top seeds for the 2020 Euro qualification campaign.
Ireland's position for the next update has not yet been suggested, but after a win over #7 ranked Italy in Lille and advancing from the group stages, we can expect to rise above #33.
