ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Antigua and Barbuda are celebrating their highest ever FIFA World ranking after they jumped this week to 70th in the world.
The Benna Boys, as they have come to be known, have improved ten places over their September ranking and are now only behind powerhouses Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean Football Union rankings at number two.
Their movement has come has a result of their impressive form in the recent second round of the Caribbean Cup qualifiers as the qualified for the Finals in Jamaica next month.
Playing in Group 7 earlier this month in Port of Spain, they beat St Lucia 2-1, drew nil-all with the Dominican Republic before losing 1-0 to hosts T&T.
Antigua now lie seventh in the CONCACAF rankings.
Meanwhile, French Caribbean side Haiti, minnows Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago were the some of the biggest movers in the latest rankings.
Haiti, who slipped to their worst ever FIFA ranking of 119 last month, jumped 26 spots to 93rd in the world. Like Antigua, this movement was driven largely by their good run in the Caribbean Cup qualifiers where they won Group 8 in Port-au-Prince by going unbeaten.
Barbados, meanwhile, rose 15 places to 146th in the world despite failing to qualify for the Finals of the Caribbean Cup when they finished bottom of Group 8.
They are 12th in CFU and lie 20th in CONCACAF.
T&T were the most dominant movers, leaping 47 places to 49th in the world to achieve their best ranking in 13 years.
They were second only to Togo as the biggest overall movers, the African nation having jumped an impressive 73 places.
Traditional Caribbean powerhouses Jamaica experienced no such enterprise, however, as they slipped 13 places to 113th in the world.
They sit seventh in CFU.
