All under the top 30

World rankings: ÖFB in “most difficult” European Championship group

The ÖFB team is currently on the upswing.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Group D with Austria is the most challenging at this summer's European Championship in Germany, at least according to the average world ranking of the four teams. 

Ralf Rangnick's ÖFB team (25th in the rankings) are up against world number two France, number seven Netherlands and Poland in 28th place, giving them an average ranking of 15.5 in the FIFA rankings. The second strongest group follows with a value of 23.25.

This is Pool B with Spain, defending champions Italy and Croatia in eighth to tenth place in the world rankings and Albania in 66th place. The group with hosts Germany (16th), Switzerland (19th), Hungary (26th) and Scotland (39th) is in third place with an average ranking of 25. The weakest pool according to the world rankings is Portugal (6th), the Czech Republic (36th), Turkey (40th) and Georgia (75th), where the average is 39.25.

ÖFB opener on June 17
The two best teams in each group and the four best of the six third-placed teams will advance to the last 16 of the European Championship. Austria will first face France on June 17 in Düsseldorf. This will be followed by matches against Poland (June 21) and the Netherlands (June 25), both in Berlin.

FIFA published its latest world rankings on Thursday. No further updates are planned until the start of the tournament on June 14. According to the world governing body, the next ranking will follow on June 20.