Brazil stayed top of FIFA's rankings
released on Wednesday but former champions France and Argentina lost
ground with the World Cup less than a month away.
Brazil, champions and favourites for the World Cup starting in Germany
on June 9, lead the Czech Republic with the Netherlands in third place.
Mexico rose two places to fourth after a recent friendly win over the
Democratic Republic of Congo, while the United States dropped one
position to join Spain in equal fifth.
Portugal climbed one spot to take seventh place from France, who fell to
eighth. Argentina, also among the World Cup favourites, dropped one
place to ninth.
On July 12, three days after the World Cup final, FIFA will publish new
world rankings based on a simplified method of calculation to be
announced during the last week of the tournament.
The evaluation period will be cut from eight to four years.
Rankings (Last month's position in brackets)
1. Brazil (1) 827 points
2. Czech Republic (2) 772
3. Netherlands (3) 768
4. Mexico (6) 758
5= United States (4) 756
5= Spain (5) 756
7. Portugal (8) 750
8. France (7) 749
9. Argentina (8) 746
10. England (10) 741
11= Nigeria (12) 736
11= Denmark (11) 736
13. Italy (14) 728
14. Turkey (13) 726
15. Cameroon (15) 722
16. Sweden (16) 709
17. Egypt (18) 708
18. Japan (17) 705
19. Germany (19) 696
20. Greece (19) 694
RANKINGS FOR WORLD CUP PARTICIPANTS OUTSIDE TOP 20
