KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC) – Haiti remained the region’s No.1 side, but recent opponents Suriname made the most waves in the latest Caribbean Football Union rankings.
The Haitians led the way among the region’s nations in the final FIFA World Rankings for last year and a successful run in CFU Caribbean Cup fifth-place playoff last week in Trinidad allows them to hold firm at the summit, where they have been for the past three months.
The latest results have also helped the Haitians to fortify their place in the CONCACAF top-five behind Costa Rica, Mexico, United States and Panama.
With very few matches played by regional sides since the previous rankings, there are few big changes in the January edition, except for the big move by the Surinamese.
The Dutch Caribbean side made the biggest move by both 62 points and a whopping 22 places in the rankings, leaping up to 128th in the World to be January’s best performer and putting them seventh in the CFU.
This improvement is still some distance from their best ever ranking for the Surinamese at 84th in the World, recorded nine years ago.
Though the move has not meant any shifts in the top-five which remain Haiti, Curaçao, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and St Kitts & Nevis, there has been some shifting in the remainder of the top-10.
Antigua & Barbuda hold onto sixth place, but Suriname’s rise displaces the remaining three with the Dominican Republic, Guyana and Puerto Rico following.
T&T’s Soca Warriors was the busiest team in the World during the last rankings period, playing four times, but three losses meant they dropped 30 points and dipped five places in the World rankings to 83rd.
The top 34 positions in the World remain unchanged with Argentina, Brazil and Germany still holding first, second and third place respectively.
Despite the overall stability of the January table, two new teams broke into the top 50 – Saudi Arabia at 48th (up six places) and Nigeria at 50th (up one) advance at the expense of Albania at 51st (down two) and Burkina Faso at 53rd (down three).
The small southern African nation of Swaziland, meanwhile, reached its best ever position in the World Ranking at 99th (up one).
The next rankings will be published on February 9.