Bangladesh’s women’s football team has made a record leap of 24 positions in the latest FIFA rankings, reaching 104th place, according to the updated list published today (Thursday, August 7). Ritu Porna Chakma, Afeida Khandaker, and their teammates are now just four places behind their best-ever ranking of 100. If they continue this momentum, they may achieve their highest position ever in the next FIFA update due in December.

The team’s remarkable climb was driven by five recent matches. In the Asian Cup qualifiers held in Myanmar, Bangladesh won all three of their group matches, defeating higher-ranked Bahrain and hosts Myanmar. Before that, in a three-nation tournament in Jordan, they held both Indonesia and Jordan to draws. These results earned them 80.51 points, the highest gain among the 196 ranked teams, making Bangladesh the biggest climber in this edition of the rankings.

At the top of the list, Spain dethroned the United States to become the world’s number one, despite losing to England in the Euro Championship final. The rest of the top 10 includes the United States, Sweden, England, Germany, France, Brazil, Japan, Canada, and North Korea.

Bangladesh previously reached the 100th position twice—in 2013 and 2017. It now seems like only a matter of time before they break back into the top 100. Just before the Asian Cup qualifiers, Bangladesh was ranked 128th in June.

In the South Asian region, India remains on top at 63rd, followed by Nepal at 87th. While India has also qualified for the Asian Cup, Nepal has not.

Meanwhile, the men’s team continues to struggle internationally and currently sits at 184th in the FIFA rankings.