USMNT moves up one spot in FIFA rankings to No. 17

The Untied States' win over the Czech Republic has earned them a one spot boost in the latest FIFA rankings. The Americans jumped to No. 17, which one one spot ahead of England. Jurgen Klinsmann's side remains third in CONCACAF, behind No. 15 Costa Rica and No. 16 Mexico.

As always, the FIFA rankings are to be taken with a grain of salt. They only matter once every four years, in the final rankings before the World Cup draw when they are used to determine the seeded teams at the tournament. And with the CONCACAF teams facing a steep uphill climb to get into the top eight, they matter even less to the teams from the region.

The rankings put a heavy emphasis on who you play and confederation strength, which explains why the U.S. ranking looks better after beating the Czech Republic. Defeating a UEFA team counts for a lot, even if it is a team like the Czechs, who aren't near the best in their region.

October's friendly against Ecuador will be decent for the Americans' ranking, but their Honduras match won't. The November match Ireland will be nice as well and, assuming they play another European team as part of the FIFA double date that month, the U.S. could see a big boost in the December rankings if they play well.

Elsewhere in CONCACAF, Panama got a nice boost, moving up eight spots to No. 55. That sent them ahead of Honduras, who fell 13 places to No. 56. Guatemala somehow made a 77-spot jump, checking in at No. 57 after making the Copa Centroamericana final.