New season kicks off

Having taken a short break after the World Cup, international football resumed with continental qualifiers in the first week of September. World champions Italy got off to a shaky start with a shock home draw against Lithuania followed by a 3-1 away defeat to World Cup finalists France, while Hungary had mixed fortunes with a disastrous 4-1 home loss to Norway and an excellent 3-1 victory in Bosnia & Herzegovina 4 days later. Northern Ireland froze against Iceland with a 3-0 defeat at home, but the sun shone on Belfast when a Healy hat-trick saw them beat Spain 3-2 on Wednesday. After an early exit at the World Cup, Poland continued their bad form losing 3-1 at home to improving Finland. The Czech Republic put their disappointing World Cup behind them with a convincing 3-0 win at neighbours Slovakia. In Africa, Tanzania earned a 2-1 win against Burkina Faso, while Gambia overcame the Cape Verde Islands 2-0. South Africa continued to slump when they were held 0-0 by visitors Congo. Kuwait brought Australia down to earth with a 2-0 win in the Asian section, while Iraq (who were ordered to play their home match on neutral soil) could only manage a 2-2 draw with Palestine. The Cayman Islands were also among big movers in Mark’s rankings after finishing bottom of their group in the qualifiers being played in Cuba.

Italy on top of the world

Victory on penalties in the World Cup final gave Italy top spot in Mark’s rankings, while finalists France who had a slow start to the tournament, and hosts Germany who finished 3^rd were among the top teams to move up in the rankings.

Australia who had recently joined the Asian Football Association continued to impress, as did newcomers Ghana - both progressing into the knockout stages. Despite falling at the first hurdle, Ivory Coast went home with 2 narrow defeats and a victory from a very difficult group where Serbia and Montenegro took the wooden spoon in their last tournament as a united nation. A 2-0 win for Ecuador over Poland was decisive in group A, while in group E an injury-hit Czech Republic suffered a similar fate at the hands of Ghana. Switzerland became the first team ever to be eliminated without conceding a goal after finishing the group ahead of finalists France, but going out on penalties in the next round.

Current rankings can be seen at: www.rankfootball.com