Being ranked number one in the world before Euro 2024 has to be England’s ambition, Gareth Southgate has claimed. The Three Lions boss has laid down the challenge to his players ahead of their clash with North Macedonia on Monday night.
Qualification to next summer’s tournament has already been confirmed but now Southgate is eyeing up a new prize, being ranked the No 1 team in the world.
Gareth Southgate’s Quotes
England were far from their best as they beat Malta 2-0 at Wembley on Friday night. An own goal and a 62nd international strike from captain Harry Kane saw Gareth Southgate’s side labour to an unimpressive win. Southgate is calling for his side to be much better against North Macedonia, and has challenged the Three Lions to secure top spot in the FIFA rankings.
“There’s some things we’d like to see. But if we’re going to be a top team, then the level of performance has got to be spot on every time,” he said.
“You’ve got to play well in the tournaments as well because the ranking points are higher in the tournaments. Also, it sets behaviours every day on the training pitch, off the training pitch. If you are going to be the top-ranked team, there’s no room for sloppiness or casualness. That’s got to be our drive.”
Gareth Southgate says England have to aim to become the number one ranked team in the world before Euro 2024 🏴 pic.twitter.com/Y6A3LcDVXn
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) November 20, 2023
England’s Highest FIFA Ranking
England have never been ranked No 1 in the world since FIFA introduced their ranking system in 1992. The highest the Three Lions have been is 3rd, which was achieved in August 2012. The manager at the time was Roy Hodgson, who was only appointed in May of that year so it was previous boss Fabio Capello who propelled England to such lofty heights, winning 28 of his 42 games in charge. However, his only major tournament saw England dispatched with relative ease in the 2010 World Cup to Germany in the Round of 16.
More recently, England have spent the last five straight years inside the top five, currently ranking as the 4th best team in the world. A strong Euros qualifying run has helped England cement their top five status but they will be eyeing to match or possibly even better their previous best when FIFA update the rankings on November 30th. Currently, Argentina lead the way with France 2nd and Brazil 3rd.
England’s Lowest FIFA Ranking
Prior to Gareth Southgate‘s appointment in 2016, England spent a lot of time outside the top ten in FIFA’s rankings. Roy Hodgson oversaw one of England’s most notable defeats, succumbing 2-1 to Iceland in the Round of 16 at Euro 2016. Before that, England departed the 2014 World Cup in the group stages without securing a single win. Hodgson did struggle in major tournaments but they never dropped as low in FIFA’s ranking as they did in 1996.
The year itself will be memorable for England’s brilliant run to the Euros semi-finals, which only ended after a penalty shootout defeat to Germany at Wembley. However, the run up to the tournament saw England ranked as the 27th best team in the world. The main reasons for this was the Three Lions failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup and their lack of games in the run up to Euro 1996, whereby they were hosts.
FIFA Ranking Top Ten
- Argentina – 1861.29 points
- France – 1853.11 points
- Brazil – 1812.2 points
- England – 1807.88 points
- Belgium – 1793.71 points
- Portugal – 1739.83 points
- Netherlands – 1739.26 points
- Spain – 1725.97 points
- Italy – 1717.81 points
- Croatia – 1711.88 points
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