Brazil - the new leaders

The latest FIFA rankings had a surprise in store as Spain's five-month reign came to an end with Brazil reclaiming pole position and pushing the reigning European champions back into second place.

This is the seventh time that Brazil had claimed top spot on the global ladder, a position that they have held for a total of 142 months since 1993.

Other moves of note in the top ten included the progress made by Argentina (7th, up 2) and Portugal (3rd, up 1). Third place represents the highest-ever position for the Portuguese since 1993.

Only five matches have been taken into account in April's edition, which was to be expected, given that there are only 43 days to go until the start of the World Cup and many national leagues are now entering the home straight.

This means that most of the changes in the rankings are due to the devaluation of past results. Some teams have actually gained points due to the fact that the devaluation of poor results has led to a greater weighting of successful matches.

Malta moved up four places in the rankings and is now placed at 154th.

So far, 150 international matches have been played in 2010.

Top 10: 1. Brazil 1,611; 2. Spain 1,565; 3. Portugal 1,249; 4. Netherlands 1,221; 5. Italy 1,184; 6. Germany 1,107; 7. Argentina 1,084; 8. England 1,068; 9. Croatia 1,052; 10. France 1,044.