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Russia still 34th in latest FIFA Rankings

The Russian national football team played two international friendly matches in November – against Brunei and Syria

GENEVA, November 28. /TASS/. The Russian national football team maintained its position at 34th place in FIFA's latest world rankings, according to the list published by the world’s governing body of football on Thursday.

The Russian national football team played two international friendlies in November - against Brunei (11-0) and Syria (4-0), but made no movement on the FIFA list, staying in 34th place with 1,512.32 points.

The FIFA World Ranking is still topped by Argentina (1,867.25 points), followed by France in 2nd place (1,859.78 points) and Spain in 3rd place (1,853.27 points).

"Starting at the summit, things really couldn’t be any tighter between the sides gracing the podium," FIFA’s press office said in a statement. "While Argentina (1st) remain at the top of the pile, France (2nd) and Spain (3rd) are in hot pursuit. England (4th) and Brazil (5th) retain their places, while Portugal (6th, up 1) and the Netherlands (7th, up 1) both climb a spot."

"Belgium slip a pair of positions (8th, down 2), and it’s a case of "as you were" for Italy (9th) in a congested top 10 that is rounded off by the returning Germany (10th, up 1)," the statement added.

The next edition of the FIFA World Rankings will be published on December 19, 2024.

Russia’s football ban

The International Association Football Federation (FIFA) announced on February 28, 2022 that the Russian national team and all professional clubs representing the country were barred from taking part in FIFA tournaments.

In turn, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made a similar decision in regard to the Russian national football team’s participation in UEFA tournaments.

Both FIFA and UEFA cited Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as grounds for their respective bans on Russian teams’ participation in competitions.

Since sanctions were introduced, the Russian national football squad has played a host of friendlies against other countries, namely against Kyrgyzstan (2-1), Tajikistan (0-0), Uzbekistan (0-0), Iran (1-1), Iraq (2-0), Cameroon (1-0), Kenya (2-2), Cuba (8-0), Serbia (4-0), Belarus 4-0 Vietnam (3-0), Brunei (11-0) and Syria (4-0).

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