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Most Astonishing Top 10 FIFA Rankings Ever

Updated on November 17, 2015

By kalkilby, Contributor for Soccerjury

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In the latest FIFA rankings, Belgium's golden generation scaled new heights to be ranked the number one team in the world.

This is the first time ever a team outside the traditional football powerhouses of Brazil, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Argentina and Netherlands has occupied top spot.

This is a huge achievement for a country with a population of just 11 million inhabitants. Despite Belgium's team boasting the likes of Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany and Kevin de Bruyne, their number one ranking will still surprise many fans.

The Belgium national team consists of many superstars (Belgium FA)

We asked ourselves which other nations have raised the eyebrows of the footballing world since the FIFA rankings were created in 1993.

And we came up with an alternative FIFA rankings of countries you wouldn't normally expect to feature in the Top 10 list, but did actually reach their lofty position since the rankings inception. 

The alternative Top 10 FIFA rankings (Soccerjury)

This alternative ranking is based on the highest position of each of the listed nations, and a judgement call was made on which nation is perhaps the most surprising for each Top 10 spot.

For example, Sweden surprised many by once reaching third spot, but this is arguably less surprising than Switzerland who also reached the same position.

The most astonishing placing is that of Norway who occupied second spot in 1993, the USA who were placed at fourth in 2006, and of course Wales ranking last month.

Belgium's current position is equally surprising, and manager Marc Wilmots team will need to shake off accusations of being a 'paper champion'. How? By maintaining their current form and delivering their country's maiden Euro title next year.

 

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