Greece in top ten but Egypt slip to no.17

The latest edition of the FIFA world ranking reveals two changes of position in the top ten, as well as the return of a team that were European champions not so long ago, fifa.com reported yesterday.

Spain continue to lead the way ahead of Brazil and the Netherlands at the top, but further back Germany (5th, up 1) and Portugal (6th, down 1) swap places, as do England (8th, up 1) and Argentina (9th, down 1).

Greece (10th, up 2) also return to the top ten for the first time since June 2008. Their fortunes are in sharp contrast to those of Egypt, last month's major movers. The Africa Cup winners fall seven places and are now in 17th place.

The Pharaohs are still the highest-placed African team, however, just ahead of Cameroon (20th), Nigeria (21st) and Ivory Coast (22nd).

The majority of changes in this month's ranking are due to the devaluation of results from last year. North Korea (102nd, down 17) have fallen significantly, for example, due to the devaluation of their victory over Saudi Arabia in a 2010 World Cup qualifying match last year.

Teams inside the top 50 that have benefited from the devaluation of past results include Serbia (13th, up 6), Slovenia (27th, up 6) and Slovakia (31st, up 5).

Two teams - Montenegro (71st, up 1) and the Comoros Islands (175th, up 1) - are currently in their highest-ever position on the FIFA ranking.

Malta, meanwhile, slid down six places in the world list and are now ranked 150th. The national team have 116 points, two adrift of Lebanon and four ahead of Liechtenstein.

Thirty-one matches, all friendlies, have been taken into account in this edition of the rankings, taking the total number of international 'A' matches played so far in 2010 to 98.

Top 20 Positions

1. Spain 1,642; 2. Brazil 1,594; 3. Netherlands 1,324; 4. Italy 1,226; 5. Germany 1,208; 6. Portugal 1,201; 7. France 1,171; 8. England 1,109; 9. Argentina 1,087; 10. Greece 1,074; 11. Croatia 1,050; 12. Russia 1,042; 13. Serbia 980; 14. Chile 971; 15. Mexico 968; 15. Switzerland 968; 17. Egypt 967; 18. US 954; 19. Uruguay 936; 20. Cameroon 888.