Trinidad and Tobago jumped ahead of Caribbean rivals Jamaica in the latest official FIFA World ranking released earlier today.
The T&T Warriors are now in 81st position with Jamaica slipping four spots in 82nd.
T&T is ranked 9th among CONCACAF nations, while they are 4th in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) standings. The USA leads the CONCACAF rankings, followed by Mexico and Costa Rica.
T&T’s jump is due largely to the performance at the OSN Cup in Saudi Arabia which included a 3-3 regulation time draw with United Arab Emirates and a 3-1 win over Saudi Arabia. Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with New Zealand is likely to have a positive impact on the next month’s FIFA rankings.
T&T head coach Stephen Hart is not too excited by the jump but knows of the importance of T&T’s move forward.
“Rankings are not something I pay particular attention to but yes it’s good when we can continue to make improvements as we are trying to do at the moment. For the sake of the players who are trying to excel on the international club stage, this is always a plus when the country can improve in the ranking,” Hart told TTFA Media.
“But personally I think our ambition is to continue improving as a team and a football nation. That is what we are setting out to do and the rankings will have its say.”
TTFA President Raymond Tim Kee welcomed the jump over Jamaica, adding “We have set ourselves some goals and making our rise to the top of the Caribbean again is one of those goals and of course improving the standard of our football and our national teams.
The process is an ongoing one and any improvement on our rankings is welcomed. This has some say also on the interest that other international teams will have in us as well and there are benefits for our players in terms of the opportunities that can arise for them to play outside.”
Spain continues to lead the World ranking table, followed by Germany, Argentine is third, Colombia climb to fourth, with Belgium up to fifth. World Cup 2014 hosts Brazil, have dropped 3 places to 11th.