The ratings released on Friday put the Australians at fourth for the first time ever and underscores the team's steady rise as a powerhouse in women's football.

In what is the final rankings release of 2017, the Matildas move up two spots from sixth to cap off an illustrious year.

England are one spot ahead of Australia in third with Germany second and USA on top. Most notable, perhaps, is Australia (4th, up 2) entering the top five for just the third time. The Aussies came in at fifth in the March and June 2016 rankings.

The record-high comes on the back of a spectacular seven-match winning streak that has included victories over Brazil, China PR, Japan, and a historic first-ever defeat of ranking leaders the USA.

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Australia swapped places with France (6th, down 2).

Moves by Brazil and Sweden came at the expense of AFC teams, Japan (9th, down 1) and Korea DPR (11th, down 1) in what was a  largely static top 10.

Second placed Germany’s shock home loss to Iceland (20th, up 1) in the World Cup qualifiers proved the greatest upset in terms of ranking points and ended any prospect of the two-time world champions knocking the USA from their perch.

The top 10 in order: USA, Germany, England, Australia, Canada, France, Netherlands, Brazil, Japan and Sweden.

Among the biggest success stories are Spain (13th, up 4) and the Republic of Ireland (29th, up 4), both teams coming off impressive results in Europe’s Women’s World Cup qualifiers.