At this special moment on December 10, FIFA, the authoritative organization of international soccer, unveiled the final ranking list of women's national teams for the year. China's women's soccer team's ranking inadvertently slipped two places to 19th on the list, equal to the lowest ranking in history in August 2012, and more noteworthy, since 2007, China's women's soccer team's year-end ranking fell out of the top ten for the first time. In the Asian region, China's women's soccer team was overtaken by the South Korean women's soccer team, dropping to the fifth position in Asia. The U.S. women's soccer team, on the other hand, continued to dominate the top spot on the overall list, ranking first for the seventh consecutive year.
It is worth mentioning that the release of this year-end ranking comes just a few months after China's women's soccer team's disappointing finish at the Tokyo Olympics. Although China's women's football team won the National Games as an "Olympic team", the national team's points did not change because it was not a FIFA-recognized A-level competition, and remained at 1,814.22 points.
The slump in the rankings reflects the recent plight of China's women's soccer team. The team's coach, Jia Xiuquan, left the team after the expiration of his contract, and although the Football Association has initiated the selection process, it ultimately invited Shui Qingxia to be the head coach of the new national team in the form of an appointment. This week, the FA officially announced a new women's soccer training list, aiming to prepare for the upcoming Asian Cup.
In the upcoming 2022 Women's Asian Cup, China's women's soccer team will face three teams - Chinese Taipei, Iran and India. It is worth mentioning that these three teams are ranked 39th, 70th and 55th in the year-end rankings.
The U.S. women's soccer team continues to lead the way in the overall standings with 2,109.09 points, and has been ranked No. 1 a total of 13 times and No. 2 six times in the year-end rankings since the creation of the FIFA Women's National Team Rankings in 2003. They are followed by the Swedish women in their highest-ever year-end ranking and the German women in third. Ranked four through ten are the teams of France, the Netherlands, Canada, Brazil, England, Spain and North Korea.
