Palestine tops Israel in FIFA world rankings

For the first time ever, Palestine's national football team has overtaken Israel's in the international football federation's rankings.

Narrated

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The New Arab

24 Nov, 2017

Palestine's national football team have won a recent string of victories [AFP]

For the first time ever, Palestine's national football team have overtaken Israel in the FIFA world rankings, achieving their highest ever spot on the list.

Palestine's rise by two places to 82nd on the list of 211 national teams was hailed by the country's head of football as an "historic achievement".

"It's a great performance by Palestine, but we need to back it up by continuing to work. We want to end the Asian Cup qualifiers as we started. It's important for the team before the draw for the finals," Palestine coach Abdel Nasser Barakat told FIFA.

The announcement on Thursday followed a recent series of victories for the Palestinian team, who are seeking to qualify for the 2019 Asian Cup comepetition.

Among this string of wins was a stunning 10-0 victory over Bhutan in October.

Israel, meanwhile, dropped 16 places to 98th on the FIFA rankings and recently failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Topping the world rankings list were Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina and Belgium in the top five spots.