ZURICH: Belgium have joined world champions France as the joint leaders in the FIFA rankings published on Thursday, the first time in the table’s 25-year history that the top spot has been shared.

Roberto Martinez’s Belgium collected two wins, including their first in the UEFA Nations League over Iceland earlier this month, to bring them level with France, the team who beat them in the World Cup semi-finals, on 1729 points.

France, meanwhile, were held to a goalless draw by Germany in Munich in their Nations League opener before beating the Netherlands 2-1.

The only other change in the top 10 saw Denmark slip down to 10th spot, below Spain.

Brazil came in third, ahead of Croatia and Uruguay, respectively. England are sixth, Portugal seventh and Switzerland eighth.

Following their disappointing group-stage exit at the World Cup, Germany have climbed a further three positions and now sit 12th alongside Chile as they start to edge back towards a single-figure ranking.

Outside of the top ten, two Nations League wins for Ukraine (29th, up six) over Czech Republic (47th, down three) and Slovakia (26th, unchanged) means that they are the month’s biggest movers.

Kenya were the biggest moversoverall as they earned 22 points to move up five places to 107th. Those points came courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Ghana in 2019 African Nations Cup qualifier.

Senegal still maintain their number one spot in Africa and 25th in the world with 1492 points. DR Congo and Morocco are second and third in Africa, and 40th and 45th in the world.

Iran remained the top Asian football nation at 33rd, followed by Australia at 43rd and Japan at 54th.

Top 10 rankings as of September 20: 1=. Belgium (+1)1,729 pts 1=. France1,729 3. Brazil1,663 4. Croatia1,634 5. Uruguay1,632 6. England1,612 7. Portugal1,606 8. Switzerland1,598 9. Spain1,597 10. Denmark (-1)1,581.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2018