That’s Napoli’s Dries Mertens providing one of the misses of the season.
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The points earned for Tuesday’s victory are enough to see Belgium leapfrog current world leaders Argentina, who have been in top spot since July, when the next set of rankings are published on November 5.
But the nature of the rankings system means that a qualifying campaign in which they failed to beat Wales and drew with Bosnia-Herzegovina, and friendly wins over the likes of Tunisia, Slovakia and Luxembourg, count for more than Germany and Argentina reaching the final in Brazil last summer.
Uruguay could be one of the big climbers inside the top 20 after their opening World Cup qualifiers.
The difference in ranking points was narrow enough that if Belgium lost at home to Israel they could have dropped out of the top three below Portugal and could also have been overtaken by Colombia.
In June 2007, they were at an all-time low of 71.
The Federation Internationale de Football Association ranking, which takes into account results, the opponents, the region and the importance of the games, has been criticised for not reflecting a team’s strength and excessively rewarding weaker teams who are on a winning streak.
But Belgium and Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany, who played 58 minutes despite his club’s concern over his fitness, could not care less about how Belgium rose to the top.
After all, the 2014 World Cup was the first major tournament that Belgium had reached in 12 years, and their underwhelming run to the quarter-finals did not suggest that they were primed to conquer. “But seeing the celebration we’re having today, we don’t care about that”.
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Israel managed to grab a consolation in the 88th minute when Tommer Hemed rose highest to head home Eran Zahavi ‘s cross. Bosnia’s 3-2 victory in Cyprus, however, ensured that the play-off spot went to them.
