The November edition of the FIFA world rankings con-tains only one change from the previous month inside the top ten.

While Spain, the Netherlands and Brazil all retained their positions out front, Egypt are back among the ten best teams at the expense of Russia.

Another African team is also on the up, namely the hosts of this year’s World Cup, South Africa. They have moved up two places to enter the top 50 for the first time since February 2006.

However, the biggest winners all hail from the Caribbean, with the numerous matches played at the Caribbean Cup, which also serves as a qualifying tournament for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, bringing some participating teams major gains in terms of points.

These include Trinidad and Tobago (78th, up 28), Guyana (86th, up 12) and Grenada (91st, up 34), who are the highest climbers in the entire ranking.

Outside CONCACAF, only Botswana (67th, up 12) and Cambodia (170th, up 12) have moved up more than ten places.

Inside the top 50, however, the situation has remained relatively settled, with no teams climbing more than two places and only one (Burkina Faso, 41st) dropping four.

Meanwhile, Malta slipped one other place in the latest list and are now ranked 169th with 77 points.

Andorra and San Marino are still the only two European nations trailing Malta in the list as they are currently placed 202 and 203 respectively.

The results of 34 ‘A’ international matches were factored into the current edition of the world rankings, bringing the total number of matches taken into account so far this year to 673.

Top 20
1. Spain 1,920; 2. Netherlands 1,718; 3. Brazil 1,493; 4. Germany 1,489; 5. Argentina 1,353; 6. England 1,250; 7. Uruguay 1,174; 8. Portugal 1,102; 9. Croatia 1,098; 10. Egypt 1,047; 11. Greece 1,043; 12. Norway 1,004; 13. Russia 1,003; 14. Italy 995; 15. Slovenia 958; 16. Chile 929; 17. Ghana 903; 18. Slovakia 866; 19. Ivory Coast 857; 20. Australia 853.