Spain Remains Atop FIFA Rankings, USA Plummets To 25th

World champions Spain safely top the October edition of FIFA’s World Rankings, and while the Netherlands maintained their second place slot, Brazil usurped now fourth place Germany for third. Argentina stays fifth followed by England, Uruguay and Portugal, though the story at the top of the rankings is less the order and more the growing gap between first and second (as well as second and third).

To give some idea of what a normal gap between teams is, Brazil now holds a seven rating point lead over Germany, their rating of 1493 passing the Germans’ 1481. That twelve point difference is a practical draw compared to the lead the Netherlands has on Brazil: 190 rating points, or roughly 12 percent of the Brazil’s rating. The gap between the Netherlands and Spain is even larger, in absolute terms. Spain has a 198 point lead on the Dutch.