Malta defender Zach Muscat (right) holds off Italy’s Ciro Immobile. Photo: Matthew MirabelliMalta defender Zach Muscat (right) holds off Italy’s Ciro Immobile. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Switzerland, who were among the top seeds for the World Cup finals this summer, have dropped out of FIFA’s top 10 world rankings after a poor start to their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.

Portugal, who surprisingly lost 1-0 at home to Albania in their opening European qualifier, have moved back into the top 10 for the first time since July and are in ninth place in the listings published yesterday.

Switzerland, who lost to England and Slovenia in their opening two qualifiers, slipped from 10th to 12th in the rankings while Portugal rose two places from 11th.

The top three positions are unchanged from September’s listings with world champions Germany in top spot, Argentina second and Colombia third.

Belgium have climbed to fourth place – their highest ever position. Former world champions Spain have continued their slide from the summit they inhabited for so long, dropping another two places to 10th following their defeat to Slovakia in the European qualifiers.

Italy are ranked 11th, up two places from September, after their narrow wins over Azerbaijan and Malta.

Besides Belgium, three other teams have achieved their highest-ever ranking with Algeria moving up to 15th, Iceland up to 28th and Antigua and Barbuda up to 70th.

Ranked 155th in last month’s chart, Malta dropped another two places after their Euro 2016 defeats against Norway (3-0) and Italy (1-0) earlier this month.

Malta, who share 157th position with Indonesia, have been leapfrogged by Liechtenstein who registered a leap of 17 places to 155th on the back of their goalless draw at home to Montenegro in a Euro 2016 qualifier.

Top 10
1. (1) Germany 1,669; 2. (2) Argentina 1,565; 3. (3) Colombia 1,420; 4. (5) Belgium 1,388; 5. (4) Netherlands 1,375; 6. (6) Brazil 1,307; 7. (9) France 1,191; 8. (7) Uruguay 1,184; 9. (11) Portugal 1,175; 10. (8) Spain 1,119.

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