Inactive Scotland shares 14th in FIFA rankings

Without a competitive (or otherwise) match since the Euro 2008 qualifiers, Scotland spent another month gathering no points in the FIFA World Rankings, but managed to hold on to 14th place. The auld enemy down south managed to raise a spot to 11th, and our next opponents, Croatia, took a step down to take over England’s twelfth place. Our match in March with the Croatians may be a friendly, but their high place in the rankings makes it a potentially lucrative one for us in terms of ranking points.

We went into February in sole possession of 14th place, but now must share it with Ghana, who have ridden a strong African Cup of Nations third-place finish to rise 29 places and join us. The Black Stars are now the highest-ranked team in Africa, a bit of a harsh blow to Egypt, whose repeat as continental champions is apparently only good enough for 29th, behind all three other Cup semifinalists.