Spain back on top as England slide, Malta gain 14 places

England have dropped four places to eighth in the latest FIFA rankings released yesterday with Uruguay, Portugal, Italy and Brazil overhauling Fabio Capello’s side in standings based on results over a four-year time-frame.

World and European champions Spain have meanwhile leapfrogged Holland to reclaim top spot following a friendly win over Chile and a Euro 2012 drubbing of Liechtenstein.

Germany remain in third place with July’s Copa America winners Uruguay fourth.

The Dutch had taken top spot last month after Spain had held the position for over a year prior to a friendly loss to Italy which allowed Holland to become, albeit briefly, the seventh team to occupy the top spot since rankings were created after Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Brazil slipped one place to seventh despite a recent friendly win over Ghana and a goalless draw with neighbours Argentina.

France, not seeded for the World Cup qualifiers after a recent slump but now unbeaten in 13 matches, are up to 12th, their best placing under Laurent Blanc, who took charge after last year’s disastrous World Cup showing.

Further down the list, Wales are back in the top 100, up 27 places to 90th after their Euro 2012 qualifying win over Montenegro.

Malta arrested their slide down the FIFA rankings as they moved up 14 places to 153rd on the back of the one-all home draw with Georgia in a Euro 2012 Group F qualifier on September 6.

Last month, Malta were classi-fied 167th in the rankings.

Top 10
1. Spain (+1); 2. Netherlands (-1); 3. Germany; 4. Uruguay (+1); 5. Portugal (+3); 6. Italy (+1); 7. Brazil (-1); 8. England (-4); 9. Croatia (+1); 10. Argentina (-1).