FIFA Circus: Russia, banned from international competitions, rises into the top 30 for the first time in 9 years

FIFA updated its rankings following the October matches. The Ukrainian national team climbed from 28th to 27th place thanks to victories over Iceland and Azerbaijan in the 2026 World Cup qualifying cycle, as was previously reported.

Gianni Infantino

As the Telegram channel “Bombardir” reports, Russia, by defeating Qatar 2:1 and Bolivia 3:0, has almost caught up with our association, jumping from 33rd to 30th place... To understand, Russia has not been in the top 30 since the summer of 2016 (!) when it failed at Euro 2016.

But its ban from international competitions allowed it to make a “historic” series of 15 victories and 7 draws, including victories over such “giants” of world football as Brunei (11:0), Grenada (5:0), Syria (4:0), Zambia (5:0), Cuba (8:0), Belarus (4:0), Vietnam (3:0), and challenging matches with Tajikistan (0:0), Kyrgyzstan (2:1), and Kenya (2:2).

FIFA takes these friendly matches into account and consistently awards points to the Russians, which pulls them up...