Brazil retain top spot as finals hosts get boost

Only about 20 friendly matches were played worldwide in the last few weeks.

Accordingly, there were only minor changes to the latest edition of the FIFA world rankings, the last to be published before the 2010 World Cup, fifa.com reported yesterday.

The head-to-head battle for top spot between leaders Brazil and European champions Spain continued, and both have a clear lead over the chasing pack of Portugal, Netherlands and Italy.

Trailing even farther behind, after Germany, Argentina, England and France, are two teams not participating in the South Africa World Cup - Croatia and Russia - who are likely to lose even more ground after the tournament.

Meanwhile, hosts South Africa have received a boost, winning not only two friendly matches, but also gaining seven places in the rankings (83rd, up 7), which is more than any other team.

The only other teams to climb five or more places were Oman (91st, up 6) and Estonia (99th, up 5).

In the top 100, Burkina Faso (48th, up 4) and Montenegro (64th, up 1) are currently in their highest-ever position since the world rankings were introduced.

Of the top 20 teams, only Croatia, Russia and Egypt will be absent in South Africa.

On the basis of this edition of the ranking, Group G, which includes Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast, is still the strongest, but only if the best three teams are taken into account (average position 10th, points 1,239).

However, if all four teams in each group are evaluated, Germany's Group D (18th on average) comes out on top in terms of rank, while Spain's Group H is strongest on points (1,013 on average), well ahead of the supposed "group of death" (34th, 1,000 points).

In the rankings issued yesterday, Malta slipped three places down to no.157, joint with Bangladesh on 100 points and just behind football unknowns Eritrea and Nicaragua.

Top 20

1. Brazil 1,611
2. Spain 1,565
3. Portugal 1,249
4. Holland 1,231
5. Italy 1,184
6. Germany 1,082
7. Argentina 1,076
8. England 1,068
9. France 1,044
10. Croatia 1,041
11. Russia 1,015
12. Egypt 967
13. Greece 964
14. United States 957
15. Serbia 947
16. Uruguay 899
17. Mexico 895
18. Chile 888
19. Cameroon 887
20. Australia 886