The 2024 Copa América did not end the way it was expected Venezuela would have liked, after a perfect first round, in which they earned the nine possible points thanks to a trio of victories over Ecuador, Mexico and Jamaica, had a grey outcome in the quarter-finals, in which they fell on penalties to Canada.
However, Fernando “Bocha” Batista’s team has a lot to celebrate. In addition to their good moment in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in North America, the Vinotinto managed to climb a total of 17 positions in the ranking. FIFAafter the football governing body published an update on the same this Thursday.
With the update, Venezuela moved from 54th to 37th place with 1,501.46 points, joining Colombia, Uruguay and Ecuador as the only South American teams to rise in the rankings. The Colombians, who played the final against Argentina, moved up three places to ninth place, while the Charrúas were placed eleventh and the tricolor twenty-seventh.
Argentina leads the way in the midst of controversy:
Argentina on Thursday became the No. 1 team in FIFA’s rankings after the local government defended its players’ celebration after winning the Copa America with a racist song aimed at second-place France.
The repercussions of the song, which was recorded on Sunday in Miami and mocked the African ancestry of the French players, continue four days later, including the rejection of criticism from the vice president of the far-right government.
The Argentine government on Wednesday fired one of its sports leaders, who urged Lionel Messi and the president of the Argentine Football Association to apologize.
Undersecretary for Sport Julio Garro spoke after FIFA was investigating the incident and Premier League club Chelsea began disciplinary proceedings against midfielder Enzo Fernandez, who posted the video on social media from the team bus.
Fernandez later apologized on Instagram, saying “that video, that moment, those words do not reflect my beliefs or my character,” but the post had disappeared by Thursday.
But Argentine Vice President Victoria Villaruel responded to critics with a defiant message on social media.
“No colonialist country is going to intimidate us with a song from the stadium or for telling the truths that they don’t want to admit,” wrote Villaruel.
Source: With information from AP
