Two wins over China and another against Colombia en route to London 2012, coupled with a 3-1 win over Cameroon at the event, have propelled New Zealand up two places to 21, one shy of their best-ever ranking.
The Olympics proved to be a historic occasion for the Ferns as the Cameroon triumph was their debut win at a FIFA tournament and qualified Tony Readings’ side for the quarter-finals, a feat likewise never achieved in a FIFA event before.
The only other Pacific sides on the move in the latest edition of the rankings are New Caledonia, who have dropped down one place to 96 and American Samoa, who have risen one to 111.
The Oceania rankings are now as follows:
1. New Zealand
2. Papua New Guinea
3. Tonga
4. Fiji
5. Tahiti
6. Solomon Islands
7. New Caledonia
8. Cook Islands
9. Vanuatu
10. Samoa
11. American Samoa
In other parts of the world, Olympic gold medal winners the USA have strengthened their grip at the top with a run of nine consecutive wins, posting a total that is just short of their all-time high of 2233 points in May 2010 and the overall record of 2234 points set by Germany in 2005.
But world champions Japan have lost ground to second-placed Germany after a patchy performance at the Olympics, due largely to the Nadeshiko’s goalless draw against outsiders South Africa. After being knocked out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage, Sweden have been overtaken by Brazil and France, the latter knocking out the Swedes on their way to the semi-finals and returning to the top five in the process, matching their highest position of 2006. Italy are also back in the top ten following Korea DPR’s drop of three places.
Apart from New Zealand and the USA, two other countries have impressed over the past three months: South Africa, after their unexpected 0-0 draw against reigning world champions Japan, and Wales, whose defeats of the Republic of Ireland, Israel and Belgium have catapulted them into the top 40 for the first time.
The results of 98 international matches have been recognised in the current edition of the rankings, the majority of them UEFA Women’s EURO 2013 qualifiers and matches for the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament London 2012.
Three teams (Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan) have been inactive for over 18 months and are therefore no longer ranked. Antigua and Barbuda have re-entered the ranking in 126th position, which brings the total number of teams to 127.

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