ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) – Regional powerhouse Jamaica have continued on top of the Caribbean Football Union rankings released by FIFA on Thursday.The Reggae Boyz were the highest-ranked CFU side in the World rankings at 52nd after moving up three places from last month.
They were narrowly ahead of second-placed Trinidad and Tobago, who lie 54th in the rankings, a rise of two places from the August rankings.
Both teams are still benefiting from the momentum of their CONCACAF Gold Cup campaigns back in July.
Jamaica played unbeaten to reach the final where they lost to eventual champions Mexico while T&T also played unbeaten to top their group before going out at the quarter-final stage.
Neither side have played an international since but that was set to change yesterday when Jamaica took on Nicaragua in their opening 2018 World Cup qualifier in Kingston and T&T clashed with Mexico in an international friendly in Utah, United States.
There is a significant gap between the top two and the remaining CFU sides. Haiti dropped three spots in the FIFA rankings to 87th but remained third in the region while Antigua and Barbuda also retained their fourth spot after failing to move in the FIFA rankings.
The top five in CFU were rounded out by Cuba who jumped six spots to 113th to be one of the biggest movers in the region along with the Dominican Republic who also leapt six places to 123rd, to lie eighth in CFU.
As expected, Mexico were the highest-ranked CONCACAF team at 26th in FIFA with Argentina the World number one side.
Following are the latest Caribbean Football Union rankings released by FIFA on Thursday:
*FIFA rankings are in brackets.
1. Jamaica (52)
2. Trinidad & Tobago (54)
3. Haiti (87)
4. Antigua & Barbuda (105)
5. Cuba (113)
6. St Vincent & the Grenadines (116)
7. St Kitts & Nevis (119)
8. Dominican Republic (123)
9. St Lucia (131)
10. Bermuda (132)
11. Aruba (137)
12. Barbados (144)
13. Curacao (148)
14. Puerto Rico (152)
15. Guyana (154)
16. Grenada (158)
17. Suriname (166)
18. Dominica (172)
19. US Virgin Islands (176)
20. Montserrat (178)
21. Cayman Islands (187)
22. Turks & Caicos (194)
23. British Virgin Islands (195)
24. Anguilla (208)
24. The Bahamas (208)