A trio of strong performances in Cape Verde sees England climb May’s world ranking
England are movers of the month in the BSWW Overall World Ranking for May with the standings also seeing the return of Cape Verde.
The Three Lions climb six places to 24th following an impressive campaign at the Sal Beach Soccer Cup, which saw them beat hosts Cape Verde while also running champions Portugal and Spain close in 5-2 defeats.
The third-place finish sees them move above the likes of Cote d’Ivoire, Madagascar and USA while Portugal and Spain stay second and eighth respectively despite bolstering their points total.
The world champions now sit within 80 points of ranking leaders Russia in an unchanged top 10 – Japan moving up two places to 11th.
Cape Verde – who returned from a lengthy absence to host and compete in Sal – claimed their first 40 points to put them 79th in the standings and ensure a relatively healthy platform for their re-emergence on the international stage.
USA were the most noticeable fallers, slipping nine places to 27th, while near-neighbours Canada fell 13 spots to 73rd as Czech Republic and Hungary both improved their points tally with friendly wins against one another.
The latter are among those competing at the Euro Beach Soccer Cup in Belgrade from June 24th to 26th and will have the chance to climb further from 17th at the tournament.
Portugal, Russia, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine and hosts Serbia will also be keen to put on a show in the capital and bolster their placing before the Beach Soccer season continues apace with the Euro Beach Soccer League and BSWW Mundialito to come across July and August.
All the fixtures, results, standings and rankings from the world of beach soccer are available at www.beachsoccer.com
