Belgian Red Devils rise to historic second place in Fifa rankings

Belgium’s national football team has climbed from third to second place in the new Fifa rankings, Belgium’s highest place since the launch of the world ranking in 1992.

Coach Marc Wilmots’ Red Devils have not competed in a match since the publication of the previous rankings on 7 May, but their move to second place comes after a recalculation of the points system, which takes into account results from the last four years.

With 1,509 points, Belgium are behind world champions Germany (1,775 points) and just ahead of Argentina (1,496 points), Colombia (1,435) and Brazil (1,392). Completing the top 10 are the Netherlands, Portugal, Uruguay, France and Spain.

The Red Devils’ next match is scheduled for 7 June, an international friendly against France in preparation for the European Championship qualifying game five days later against Wales.