By Canadian Press

Canadian women unchanged at No. 7 in last FIFA rankings before 2023 World Cup draw

Oct 13, 2022 | 7:15 AM

Canada’s women are unchanged at No. 7 in the latest FIFA world rankings.

The U.S. continues atop the list with Olympic silver medallist Sweden moving up to No. 2, dropping Germany one place. England stands fourth followed by France with Spain — fresh from a 2-0 win over the Americans — moving up to No. 6 from No. 8 with the Netherlands dropping below Canada. Brazil and North Korea fill out the top 10.

The new rankings will be used to determine the seedings for the draw for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The draw is scheduled for Oct. 22 in Auckland.

The Canadian women are coming off wins over Argentina (2-0) and Morocco (4-0) in the recent FIFA international window. Despite the loss, Argentina moved up two places to No. 29 while Morocco remained at No. 76.

Canada’s highest ranking to date is No. 4. The women first made it there after winning bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics, moving up six spots in the wake of beating host Brazil 2-1 in the third-place match.

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The Canadians fell to No. 5 in March 2017, returning to No. 4 that June. Canada bounced between No. 4 and 5 until it fell to No. 7 in June 2019 and No. 8 in December 2019.

Bev Priestman’s team climbed back to No. 6 in Aug. 21 after its gold-medal performance at the Tokyo Olympics. It slipped to No. 7 in the August 2022 rankings.

Estonia was the big mover in the new rankings, climbing 10 places to crack the top 100 at No. 96. Pakistan moved up seven places to No. 140.

Portugal (No. 23, up four) was the highest climber in the top 50.

Syria (No. 157) and Pakistan (No. 160) joining the rankings, meaning 187 of FIFA’s 211 member associations are now included in the women’s rankings.

The draw for the World Cup playoff tournament is set for Friday with Portugal (No. 23), Chile (No. 38), Chinese Taipei (No. 40), Thailand (No. 41), Papua New Guinea (No. 50), Paraguay (No. 51), Haiti (No. 56), Panama (No. 57), Cameroon (No. 58) and Senegal (No. 84) competing for three tournament berths. 

The Canadian men are currently ranked 41st in the world.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2022

The Canadian Press