Canada Ranked 61st by FIFA

Ottawa, Ontario – Canada’s men’s World Cup team moved up 24 spots, from 85 to 61, in the FIFA/Coca Cola World Rankings, released today. Canada’s improvement was the most by any country over the last month.

The 61st ranking is the highest enjoyed by Canada since September 1997 (59) and reflects its victories over Mexico (10), Trinidad and Tobago (40) and Colombia (17) at the 2000 Football Confederation Gold Cup held in February.

“This is another step in the right direction for our World Cup team. It’s a reflection of our performance in the Gold Cup and we look forward to increasing our position as we head into World Cup Qualifying in June,” said Canadian Soccer Association chief operating officer Kevan Pipe.

The Canadians are actually tied with Kuwait at 61, one behind Honduras (60) and ahead of Thailand (63). Canada’s all-time high was a ranking of 40, reached in December 1996 while its all-time low was a ranking of 101, in December 1998.