BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Jamaica will enter the Copa América tournament, starting on Thursday, knowing they are the highest ranked Caribbean Football Union (CFU) team in the world rankings after the latest edition was released on Thursday by the sport’s world governing body, Fifa.
Photo courtesy of Copa AméricaThe Jamaicans are ranked 53rd in the latest world rankings from the apex body of the sport, keeping them the sixth highest ranked team in the Concacaf region, and one of four CFU teams inside the world’s top 100.
According to Fifa, there has been no shortage of international matches since the previous edition of the world rankings in April.
No fewer than 187 national team matches have been contested Between the Asian Football Confederation, Confederation of African Football and Concacaf qualifiers for the 20226 Fifa World Cup.
In addition, there have been the warm-up matches ahead of the Copa América tournament, EURO 2024, and the Oceania Football Confederation Nations Cup that has the thrown up a series of changes in the latest standings.
The Reggae Boyz, as the Jamaicans are known, played only two matches during the period, winning both in the World Cup qualifiers.
They beat North Caribbean neighbours, Dominican Republic on June 6 on home soil at the National Stadium in Kingston, but they had to work a little harder to overcome hosts Dominica 3-2 on June 9 at Windsor Park in Roseau.
Haiti ranked 86th in the world (ninth in Concacaf), Curaçao at 87th on the global stage (10th in Concacaf), and T&T at 99th in the world (11th in Concacaf) remain the other three teams in the Fifa top 100 from the CFU, while Suriname ranked at 141st in the world has displaced Antigua & Barbuda as the fifth highest ranked CFU team and 14th in Concacaf.
The Antiguans endured the biggest plunge in the rankings among CFU and Concacaf teams, and they are now ranked 148th in the world and 15th in Concacaf.
They are seventh in the CFU rankings behind St Kitts & Nevis at 146th in the world (14th in Concacaf), but they are in front of Dominican Republic at 150th on the global stage (16th in Concacaf), Guyana at 153rd (17th in Concacaf), and Puerto Rico at 156th (18th in Concacaf) to round out the CFU top 10.
St Lucia holding a world ranking of 168th (down two places) are the ranked 11th in the CFU and 19th in Concacaf, while Cuba with a world ranking of 169th (unchanged) are 12th in the CFU and 20th in Concacaf.
