The Norwegian men’s national football team moved up five places in the FIFA rankings after a good result in the Nations League. This is the highest rating in seven years.

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Norway rises to 36 rating top of the best national teams in the world. We have to go back to 2015 the last time the national team was so high. Then they are in 34th position.

A good result in the Nations League (10 of 12 points against Sweden x2, Slovenia and Serbia) which saw the Norwegian national team overtake Canada, Hungary, Cameroon, Egypt and Scotland.

A total of 24 teams will advance to the European Cup which will be held in Germany in the summer of 2024. Germany qualified as hosts, leaving 23 places remaining.

A total of 20 of these are awarded through regular European Championship qualifiers.

• The qualifiers are divided into ten groups, the best two in each group go to the European Championship.
• The group draw will take place on October 9 in Frankfurt, one month after the Nations League group stage finishes.

The draw for the European Championship qualifiers is 9 October. Which seed Norway gets depends on the Nations League rankings, and currently Norway is aiming for the dream seeding.

The national team would likely end up at the second highest level, and thus could only qualify with only one major nation as a contender. In comparison, Sweden will most likely end up in level three after a weak Nations League summer.

The last time the men’s national football team qualified for the championship – the European Championship in 2000 – Norway was the top seed. In all European Championship qualifiers since then, Norway have been seeded in the third tier.

– Winning League of Nations pools pays off. It means a lot to the European Cup seed and draw. In addition, it provides an extra chance to qualify for the European Championships, said Truls Dæhli, acting elite director at the NFF.

Norway has on two occasions been in second place in the FIFA rankings. First in October 1993 and then in July 1995. The weakest position was in 2017, when Norway was ranked 88th.

Brazil retains its place as the world’s best national team. Copa América winners Argentina are up one more place from the previous rankings, after they moved up one place after the championship as well. They are in 3rd position. European champions Italy dropped from 6th to 7th.

Top ten countries:

1) Brazil 1837.56, 2) Belgium 1821.92, 3) Argentina 1770.65, 4) France 1764.85, 5) England 1737.46, 6) Spain 1716.93, 7) Italy 1713.86, 8) Netherlands 1679.41, 9) Portugal 1678.65, 10) Denmark 1665.47.

Correction: The first VG weakest position was 83rd in 2016. That’s not true – its weakest position was in 2017, at 88th. Error fixed on 23.06.2022 at 15:44.