England Climb to Third in Latest FIFA Women's World Rankings as USA Remain Top

England have moved up to third in the latest FIFA Women's World Rankings, further cementing the Lionesses as one of the best international teams on the planet

England have moved up to third in the latest FIFA Women's World Rankings, further cementing the Lionesses as one of the best international teams on the planet in the build up to this summer's eagerly anticipated Women's World Cup in France.

The United States, World Cup holders and favourites for the 2019 tournament remain top of the pile, while European giants Germany are also unmoved in second place.

Catherine Ivill/GettyImages

Still just shy of their all-time high of second place in the rankings - achieved in March 2018, England leapfrogged European rivals France after claiming victory in the SheBelieves Cup earlier this month. Canada are unmoved in fifth place, while Australia stay sixth.

Japan have risen one place to seventh, resulting in current European champions Netherlands falling to eighth. Sweden, who recently launched an inspirational new home kit to be worn at the World Cup, and Brazil make up the remainder of the top 10.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Swedish Women's National team (@swewnt)

Outside the top 10, Spain and China have both fallen one place to 13th and 16th respectively.

Scotland, meanwhile, have held firm in 20th place ahead of their first ever World Cup.

North Korea, 11th, are the highest ranked nation that won't be present in France this summer, while Jamaica, 53rd, are the lowest ranked side that will be going.

FIFA Women's World Ranking Top 20 & All Other World Cup Countries:

Rank	Country	Movement	World Cup Group
1	USA	-	Group F
2	Germany	-	Group B
3	England	Up 1	Group D
4	France	Down 1	Group A
5	Canada	-	Group E
6	Australia	-	Group C
7	Japan	Up 1	Group D
8	Netherlands	Down 1	Group E
9	Sweden	-	Group F
10	Brazil	-	Group C
11	North Korea	-	-
12	Norway	Up 1	Group A
13	Spain	Down 1	Group B
14	South Korea	-	Group A
15	Italy	Up 1	Group C
16	China	Down 1	Group B
17	Denmark	-	-
18	Switzerland	-	-
19	New Zealand	-	Group E
20	Scotland	-	Group D
34	Thailand	Down 5	Group F
37	Argentina	Down 1	Group D
38	Nigeria	Up 1	Group A
39	Chile	Down 1	Group F
46	Cameroon	-	Group E
49	South Africa	Down 1	Group B
53	Jamaica	-	Group C

England will continue their preparations for what the country hopes will be a first Women's World Cup triumph when they host Spain and Denmark in warm up friendlies in April.

Those games will be followed by further clashes with Denmark and New Zealand in May and June respectively, with all four remaining warm ups to be broadcast live by the BBC.

Catherine Ivill/GettyImages

The Lionesses will kick off their World Cup with a Group D fixture against Scotland in Nice on 9 June, before further group games against Argentina (14 June) and Japan (19 June).

Every World Cup game, not just those involving England, will be broadcast live across the various BBC platforms this summer.

Other un-missable group games to watch out for include Germany vs Spain (12 June), Australia vs Brazil (13 June), Netherlands vs Canada (20 June) and Sweden vs United States (20 June).