France is closing in on the No. 3 spot. (Getty Images)
The United States women retained their No. 1 world ranking in the lastest FIFA rankings released on Friday, keeping hold of the position they’ve maintained since March 2008.
The top six teams remained unchanged: USA, Germany, Japan, France, Sweden and Brazil, in order, but Germany closed ground on the United States and France inched closer to Japan.
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With smaller nations taking part in World Cup qualifying and playing meaningful matches to qualify for ranking, eight new countries became ranked: Trinidad and Tobago, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, Jamaica, Guam, Dominican Republic and St Lucia.
Wales was the biggest mover, jumping five spots to No. 32, while Uruguay had the biggest slide, down 10 spots to No. 81.
Click here for the full list of rankings. The next world rankings will be released on Dec. 19.
