The U.S. men’s national team’s world standing is plummeting at the same time the women’s national team is soaring. The June FIFA rankings released on Friday saw the USMNT fall six places to 30th in the world, its worst ranking since 2017.
Belgium increased its lead at No. 1 in the world as the top four remained the same (France, Brazil, England, respectively). Portugal jumped into the top five after its UEFA Nations League glory but no teams entered or exited the top 10. Mexico remained steady at No. 18.
https://t.co/LbFoRGD9hj pic.twitter.com/kMaVLhsZYU
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) June 14, 2019
The USMNT’s spot in the June FIFA rankings is a result of a miserable recent slate, having lost to Jamaica and Venezuela in warmups for the Gold Cup, which begins this weekend. The U.S. was as high as No. 22 last year and hasn’t cracked the top 20 since 2014.
It’s hard to believe that 15 years ago the U.S. was a top 10 team (at least according to the FIFA rankings). The USMNT was ranked as high as fourth ahead of the 2006 World Cup before plunging to 31st before the end of that year and the team hasn’t been ranked higher than 11th since.
The U.S. is ranked right between Northern Ireland and Japan (tied for 28th) and Slovakia (31st) and behind countries like Poland, Iran, Peru, Senegal, Wales, Ukraine, Tunisia and Romania. Part of this is because the team hasn’t played a meaningful match since Oct. 2017, but part of it is because the U.S. hasn’t had any good results lately.
Meanwhile on the women’s side, the USWNT is still a strong No. 1 (rankings haven’t been updated since March) and hasn’t been out of the No. 1 or No. 2 spot ever, dating back to the start of the FIFA women’s rankings in 2003.
And yet, the U.S. women are having to sue U.S. Soccer for equal pay.
In the words of Dr. Nick Riviera: What a country.
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