Spain still no.1 as Portugal back to top 10

European champions Spain remained top of FIFA's world rankings published yesterday while their Iberian neighbours Portugal climbed back into the top 10.

Spain moved 300 points clear of second-placed Germany, boosted by their 2-0 win over England in a friendly in Seville last month. As a result of that defeat, England slipped from eighth to ninth.

Portugal, who beat Finland in a friendly last month, moved up to 10th from 12th after dropping out of the top 10 in December.

They replaced Turkey, who dropped down to 11th after a 1-1 draw in a friendly with Ivory Coast in February.

Russia climbed one place up to eighth despite not playing in February.

Norway, who beat Germany 1-0 in a friendly in Duesseldorf, were one of the month's biggest movers, climbing 11 places to 45th.

Other teams that have moved into the top 50 are Belgium (49th, up 4) and Colombia (47th, up 4), while Slovakia (53rd, down 11), Panama (51st, down 1) and Lithuania (52nd, down 4) have all fallen down the rankings.

Malta up to 146

The Maltese national team improved its position by eight places and is now ranked 146th in the world list that includes 207 countries.

In the previous ranking Malta was leapfrogged by fellow UEFA minnows Liechtenstein after slipping to no.154. However, the points earned from a 0-0 World Cup qualifier draw against Albania last month saw the Maltese gaining an edge as Liechtenstein retain their position at no.151.

Faroe Islands (185), Andorra (195) and San Marino (201) are the other teams from UEFA behind Malta.

A total of 52 'A' matches were played since the last edition of the rankings, bringing this year's total to 135. The standings are based on team's performances over the last four years.

Top 20 teams

(previous positions in brackets)

1. (1) Spain; 2. (2) Germany; 3. (3) Netherlands; 4. (4) Italy; 5. (5) Brazil; 6. (6) Argentina; 7. (7) Croatia; 8. (9) Russia; 9. (8) England; 10. (12) Portugal; 11. (10) Turkey; 12. (11) France; 13. (12) Czech Republic; 14. (14) Ukraine; 15. (15) Paraguay; 16. (16) Cameroon; 17. (20) US; 18. (18) Israel; 19. (19) Greece; 20. (17) Romania.