FIFA released their updated world rankings today and though the updates only took five games into account, these are the rankings that will be in effect when play kicks off at the World Cup in June.
FIFA Releases New World Rankings; Brazil Takes Top Spot
Below are the top 15 teams in the world as determined by FIFA’s point system. In parenthesis is the group that these countries will be competing in at the World Cup if they qualified:
1. Brazil (Group G)
2. Spain (Group H)
3. Portugal (Group G)
4. Netherlands (Group E)
5. Italy (Group F)
6. Germany (Group D)
7. Argentina (Group B)
8. England (Group C)
9. Croatia (Did not qualify)
10. France (Group A)
11. Russia (DNQ)
12. Greece (Group B)
13. Egypt (DNQ)
14. USA (Group C)
15. Chile (Group H)
The most obvious shuffle occurred at the top with Brazil taking back the top spot back from Spain. No team who was previously in the top 20 moved up or down more than two spots. Nigeria is the only new team in the top 20. The USA moved up two spots to 14, the same spot they were in in April 2006 for the Germany World Cup. The most notable fall was suffered by France who fell from eighth to tenth while Argentina moved up two spots to the seven spot. Check out FIFA’s website for a complete list of the new rankings.
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