BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC—Jamaica will enter the Copa América tournament starting on Thursday, knowing they are the highest-ranked Caribbean Football Union (CFU) team in the world rankings after the latest edition was released on Thursday by the sport’s world governing body, Fifa.
The Jamaicans are ranked 53rd in the latest world rankings from the sport’s apex body, keeping them the sixth-highest-ranked team in the Concacaf region and one of four CFU teams inside the world’s top 100.
According to Fifa, there has been no shortage of international matches since the previous edition of the world rankings in April.
No fewer than 187 national team matches have been contested Between the Asian Football Confederation, Confederation of African Football, and Concacaf qualifiers for the 20226 Fifa World Cup.
In addition, warm-up matches ahead of the Copa América tournament, EURO 2024, and the Oceania Football Confederation Nations Cup have thrown up a series of changes in the latest standings.
As the Jamaicans are known, the Reggae Boyz played only two matches during the period, winning both in the World Cup qualifiers.
They beat North Caribbean neighbors, the Dominican Republic, on June 6 on home soil at the National Stadium in Kingston. Still, they had to work harder to overcome hosts Dominica 3-2 on June 9 at Windsor Park in Roseau.
Haiti ranked 86th in the world (ninth in Concacaf), Curaçao 87th on the global stage (10th in Concacaf), and T&T 99th in the world (11th in Concacaf) remain the other three teams in the Fifa top 100 from the CFU. Suriname, ranked 141st in the world, has displaced Antigua & Barbuda as the fifth-highest-ranked CFU team and 14th in Concacaf.
The Antiguans endured the biggest plunge in rankings among CFU and Concacaf teams. They are now ranked 148th in the world and 15th in Concacaf.
They are seventh in the CFU rankings behind St Kitts & Nevis, 146th worldwide (14th in Concacaf). However, they are in front of the Dominican Republic, which is 150th on the global stage (16th in Concacaf), Guyana, which is 153rd (17th in Concacaf), and Puerto Rico, which is 156th (18th in Concacaf) to round out the CFU top 10.
St Lucia, holding a world ranking of 168th (down two places), is ranked 11th in the CFU and 19th in Concacaf, while Cuba, with a world ranking of 169th (unchanged), is ranked 12th in the CFU and 20th in Concacaf.
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