Italy consolidate top position

Leaders Italy consolidated their position in the latest edition of the FIFA World Rankings as Argentina (3rd, down one) lost ground after a goalless draw.

Argentina have been overtaken by Brazil (2nd, up one).

Otherwise, there were no other changes in the top ten due to the very limited number of matches played.

As a result of the devaluation of defeats in the past and strong performances over the last few months, Scotland (14th, up five) have climbed to their best position since the ranking was introduced in 1993.

There have also been slight gains for Poland (18th, up three) and Sweden (22nd, up two) as well as a setback for Chile (43rd, down six).

The biggest climbers in May were Congo DR (61st, up 23), whose points total and position improved sharply thanks to their victory in a CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2008 qualifier.

With the exception of Argentina, the respective continental leaders Italy (1st), Cameroon (13th), Mexico (20th), Iran (41st) and New Zealand (127th) have all held on to their positions and remain the strongest teams in their confederations.

The biggest movers of the year so far in terms of points gained are Ireland (up 169 points), followed by Northern Ireland and Costa Rica (both up 117 points).

Meanwhile, Malta dropped two places, from 110th to 112th, in this month's rankings. The national team have not played an international match since losing 1-0 at home to Greece in the last week of March but they still gained three ranking points this month.

Malta lie two spots and four points behind Estonia but are placed ahead of Kazakhstan (115), Liechtenstein (134), Andorra (161), Luxembourg (178), the Faroe Islands (185) and San Marino (195), all UEFA members.