Big Movers of 2013
Brazil replaced Spain at the top with a convincing 3-0 win over them to win the Confederations Cup on home soil. Chile moved into the top 4 with good results in World Cup qualifiers.
Trinidad & Tobago were the top movers after getting out of their Gold Cup group in the USA with a 2-2 draw against El Salvador and a splendid 2-0 victory over Honduras. They also enjoyed friendly victories over their hosts 3-1 in Saudi Arabia and 1-0 in Jamaica.
Iran turned their poor form around to qualify for the World Cup after 1-0 victories in Qatar and South Korea. In Asian qualifiers they lashed Lebanon 5-0 at home and 4-1 away and also eased past Thailand 3-0 in Bangkok.
Cameroon topped their second round World Cup qualifying group after disposing of Togo 2-1 at home and 3-0 in Togo and qualified for the World Cup after smashing Tunisia 4-1 in their home leg of the knockout round.
Slovenia who beat Turkey 2-0 in a friendly in Germany earned a magnificent 4-2 win in Iceland and enjoyed a 2-0 victory in Cyprus in World Cup qualifiers.
Burkina Faso reached the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa by defeating Ghana on penalties in the semi final having won their group ahead of Nigeria, with whom they drew 1-1, thanks to the 4-0 thumping of Ethiopia. They also got the better of Algeria 3-2 at home in a World Cup qualifier.
Ukraine, who defeated Norway 2-0 in a friendly in Spain, powered past Poland 3-1 and mauled Montenegro 4-0 in away qualifiers and came close to qualifying for the World Cup having won their fist leg play-off match 2-0 at home to France.
Kuwait battered hosts Bahrain 6-1 in a friendly and enjoyed a 3-1 win in an Asian qualifier in Thailand.
Serbia eased past Wales 3-0 in Cardiff and hammered Macedonia 5-1 at home in World Cup qualifiers.
Lesotho earned a 1-1 draw at home to Zambia and shocked Sudan 3-1 away from home in World Cup qualifiers. They also drew 2-2 with Kenya in a friendly played in Zambia.
Belize finished 4th in the Central American Cup in Costa having progressed from their group with a narrow 1-0 defeat to their hosts, a goalless draw with Guatemala and a 2-1 victory over Nicaragua.
Norway were stunned 1-0 by Albania in Oslo where they suffered 2-0 at the hands of Switzerland and also lost 3-0 away to Slovenia.
Zambia began the defence of their African crown in South Africa with a 1-1 draw against Ethiopia and were eliminated after 2 more draws in their group. They also drew 1-1 away to Lesotho and at home to Sudan in World Cup qualifiers and beaten in friendly matches; 2-0 in Angola and 2-1 against Sudan in Kenya.
Guatemala failed to get out of their Central America Cup in Costa Rica after 1-1 and 0-0 draws with Nicaragua and Belize respectively and finished 6th after losing 3-1 to Panama. They later repeated their goalless draw against Belize in a friendly at home.
Montenegro suffered heavy home defeats in World Cup qualifiers, going down 4-0 to Ukraine and being humiliated 5-2 at the hands of Moldova.
Ivory Coast who drew 2-2 with Algeria in their Africa Cup of Nations group were knocked out at the next stage 2-1 by Nigeria. They also lost a friendly match 4-1 to Mexico in the USA and were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Morocco in a World Cup qualifier.
Mali who were crushed 4-1 in the semi final of the Africa Cup of Nations by Nigeria were held at home in World Cup qualifiers 1-1 against Rwanda and 2-2 against Benin.
Mexico could only draw 0-0 at home to Jamaica, USA and Costa Rica and were beaten 2-1 by Honduras in World Cup qualifiers. In the Gold Cup they lost 2-1 to Panama in the group stage and semi final.
Ghana began their Africa Cup of Nations with a 2-2 draw against DR Congo and after losing to Burkina Faso on penalties in the semi final were beaten into fourth place 3-1 by Mali. They also lost 2-1 away to Egypt in a World Cup qualifier.
Yemen failed to pick up any points in the Asian Cup qualifiers losing 2-0 to Bahrain in the UAE and 2-1 away to Malaysia. They were smashed 6-0 away to Qatar and 4-1 in the UAE by the same opponents.
Sweden were held to a goalless draw at home to the Republic of Ireland and lost 2-1 in Austria before losing 5-3 at home to Germany in World Cup qualifiers. They failed at the play-offs losing 3-2 at home to Portugal.
The shock of the year was Armenia's 4-0 demolition of Denmark in a World Cup qualifier in Copenhagen.
The highest score of the year was 10-0 achieved by Maldives against Sri Lanka in the South Asian Championship in Nepal, Spain against Tahiti in the Confederations Cup in Brazil and Egypt in a friendly at home to Swaziland.
The only nation to join the rankings was South Sudan who moved in at 157th position.
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