Australia has moved up to fourth in the world after the latest FIFA Women's World Rankings released today, their highest in history.
The Matildas have continued their rise after a stunning year.
Australia moved up two spots from sixth in what is the final rankings of the year.
England are one spot ahead of Australia in third with Germany second and USA on top.
This is the third year in succession that has ended with the Stars & Stripes on top.
Most notable, perhaps, is Australia (4th, up 2) entering the top five for the first time.
The Matildas have ascended to this record-high position on the back of a spectacular seven-match winning run that has included victories over Brazil, China PR, Japan, and ranking leaders the USA.
Australia swapping places with France (6th, down 2), and Brazil (8th, up 1) and Sweden (10th, up 1) each moving up a spot at the expense of Japan (9th, down 1) and Korea DPR (11th, down 1) respectively, are the only changes in a largely static top ten.
Germany’s (2nd, unchanged) shock home loss to Iceland (20th, up 1) in FIFA Women’s World Cup™ qualifying – the greatest upset, in terms of ranking points exchanged, since June 2015 – removed any prospect of the two-time world champions knocking the USA off their perch, and almost cost them second spot.
The Germans now sit on an all-time low of 2052 points, just 19 clear of England (3rd, unchanged) – their smallest lead over another European nation since 2009.
The latest ranking does include plenty of success stories though, with Spain (13th, up 4) and the Republic of Ireland (29th, up 4) making identical leaps on the back of impressive results in Europe’s Women’s World Cup qualifiers.
The Republic of Ireland have also claimed this month’s biggest points haul (48), while there are also notable climbs for Northern Ireland (55th, up 5) and Kosovo (97th, up 8).
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking will be published on 23 March 2018.
Leader USA (unchanged)
Moves into top ten Sweden (10th, up 1)
Moves out of top ten Korea DPR (11th, down 1)
Matches played in total 129
Most matches played Brazil (7)
Biggest move by points Republic of Ireland (up 48)
Biggest move by ranks Kosovo (97th, up 8)
Biggest drop by points Slovakia (down 57)
Biggest drop by ranks Israel (62nd, down 7)
Newly ranked teams (re-entries unless otherwise stated) Argentina, Mozambique, Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland, Madagascar (first entry) and Mauritius (first entry)
Teams no longer ranked due to prolonged inactivity Côte d’Ivoire, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Senegal, Guinea and Burkina Faso