The Republic of Ireland are close to bottoming out in the FIFA world ranking thanks to their two defeats earlier this month.
The Boys in Green’s worst-ever placement in FIFA’s list came back in 2014 when they sat 70th overall, following the long decline following the end of Giovanni Trapattoni’s tenure.
Ireland’s recent form has not been much better having lost eight of their last 10 competitive matches – with the only wins coming home and away against Gibraltar.
The arrival of Heimir Hallgrímsson failed to turn the fortunes of his side in his first international window with the squad.
The defeats to England and Greece earlier this month saw the team fail to score and left them in serious danger of dropping down a tier in the Nations League.
Following the September international fixtures, the new FIFA world ranking has seen Ireland drop four places.
The men’s side are now ranked 62nd worldwide. For comparison, the country was ranked 34th when Stephen Kenny took charge in 2020.
The following years saw Ireland drift slowly down the standings and they originally reached 62nd when John O’Shea began his interim reign earlier this year.
Given that Ireland face two tough away trips to Finland and Greece next month, Hallgrímsson’s charges could yet fall further in the worldwide rankings.
The team are now just 11 places ahead of Northern Ireland, who moved up one spot to 72nd in the latest rankings.
Ironically, Hallgrímsson’s former side Jamaica are now ranked a single place above Ireland in 61st.
At the top, world champions Argentina remain first while France and Euro 2024 winners Spain round out the top three.