fifa Archives - Dunda Football

September 18, 2020

FIFA World Rankings update.

FIFA World rankings update have been released. The worldwide football governing body unveiled the latest standings after international matches resumed. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the football calendar for more than six months.

Top three of the FIFA World Rankings unchanged after the update.

The top three spots in the rankings remain unchanged. The Belgium National Football Team still lead the table after wins against Denmark and Iceland in the UEFA Nations League. Victory against Sweden and Croatia also guarantees that Didier Deschamps’ Les Blues are still second place after the latest FIFA World Rankings update. Brazil closes the top 3 despite not playing a game since November 2019.

Belgium celebrating their win against denmark in the UEFA Nations League. Image: Getty Images

Teams that moved up after the FIFA world rankings update.

Cristiano Ronaldo and the Seleção rank 5th, moving up two places after defeating Croatia and Sweden. Spain moves one spot into 7^th place following a stalemate with Germany and a win against Ukraine. The Azzurri, the Netherlands National Football Team, and Die Mannschaft also move one spot and are ranked 12^th, 13^th, and 14^th. Wales narrowly misses the top 20, moving up two positions into 21^st.

Cristiano Ronaldo and the Seleção, the UEFA Nations League defending champions. Image: Getty Images.

Russia is the biggest gainer after the latest rankings. They ascend by six places after wins over Serbia and Hungary.

Iran climbs three places into 30^th position despite not playing because Serbia and Turkey dropped points. Nigeria also moves up two posts into 29^th without being involved in any games.

29th placed Nigeria National Football team. Image: Getty Images

Drops in the rankings.

Croatia drops two ranks into 8^th after losing to Portugal and France. Sweden moves down a position into 18^th due to losses to France and Portugal.

Slovakia and Estonia dropped the most in the standings, moving down by four ranks into 36^th and 93^rd places.

Newly Ranked and non-ranked teams.

No new team makes it into the FIFA world rankings after the September update. The Cook Islands are inactive/unranked.

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Europe

August 25, 2020

Australia and New Zealand to host 2023 Women’s World Cup

by Quincy Charles

Australia and New Zealand have officially been confirmed as the hosts of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, beating Colombia which also had an interest in hosting the tournament.

The two countries won by 22 – 13 votes to get the rights to host the tournament that is to be the first Women’s World Cup to feature 32 teams.

According to FIFA, their technical evaluation showed that Australia/New Zealand bid received a 4.1 score out of 5, presenting the most favourable commercial proposition.

Australia/New Zealand’s bid tagged as superior compared to Colombia’s 2.8 scores. FIFA determined that there would be need of “a significant amount of investment and support from both local stakeholders and FIFA”.

Moreover, the Women’s program in Colombia has faced several problems like few camps, inadequate financial support and poor conditions from the federation.

Last year, the Women’s World Cup took place in France with the US women’s national team beating the Netherlands team in the final winning their fourth title in the competition.

New Zealand was among countries like England, South Africa, South Korea and France who showed interest in hosting the last year’s tournament. However, New Zealand pulled out in the bidding process.

The 2023 Women’s World Cup will be held in July and August same year, while the qualifying process will start in 2021 and end in 2022.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

England/Premier League

August 25, 2020

The English Premier League confirms dates for summer 2020 transfer window

by Quincy Charles

The transfer dates for the 2020 summer transfer window for the Premier League side are finally out.

The transfer period will run for ten weeks, from 27th July to 5th October. This decision was settled upon in a meeting by the Premier League shareholders on Wednesday. The new dates are, however, subject to FIFA approval.

EPL top clubs will be allowed to trade with EFL clubs for an additional 11 days till 16th October. The clubs will be allowed to sign players on either a permanent or loan basis.

The Premier League clubs will not be allowed to conduct deals with each other for that added time.

The EPL resumed in June and is to end by 26th July just a day before the summer transfer window will be open.

EPL clubs will then be able to sign new players who will, however, not be allowed to participate in the Champions and Europa League for their new clubs.

The Champions League and Europa League are to return in August, but the date for the start of 2020-2021 Premier League season is yet to be confirmed.

Photo Credit: Getty Images