After enduring an emotional rollercoaster over the past week, the Republic of Ireland find themselves unchanged in 59th position in the latest FIFA men's world rankings.
Heimir Hallgrimsson's men were condemned to an Aviva Stadium friendly against North Macedonia on Tuesday night following last Thursday's gut-wrenching loss to Czechia on penalties in the World Cup play-off semi-finals.
Ireland fans' sense of what might have been was intensified when Czechia went on to beat Denmark in a shootout and seal their place at the summer's tournament, which will be held in Mexico, USA and Canada.
Back in November, the Boys in Green rose three places to 59th after the glorious victories against Portugal and Hungary. They next face Qatar in a May friendly, then Canada in June.
France have jumped two spots to sit top of the pile thanks to two wins in their most recent friendlies. It's the first time Les Bleus have hit the summit since September 2018. They have leapfrogged Spain (second, down one) and world champions Argentina (third, down one). England stay fourth.
Other notable movers include Portugal (fifth, up one), who have swapped places with Brazil (sixth) after taking a win and a draw from their recent friendlies and capitalising on a slip-up from the Selecao against France. The remainder of the top 10 is unchanged: Netherlands (seventh), Morocco (eighth), Belgium (ninth) and Germany (10th).
Elsewhere, Turkey (22nd, up three), Cote d’Ivoire (34th, up three), Sweden (38th, up four) and Tunisia (44th, up three) are the biggest climbers in the top 50.
Bosnia and Herzegovina (65th, up six) have double cause for celebration, having shot up the standings after joining fellow European play-off winners Sweden, the Turks and Ireland's conquerors Czechia (41st, up two) in booking their tickets for the World Cup. Bosnia held their nerve in a penalty shootout against Italy (up one place to 12th).
