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Spain builds record lead in FIFA rankings
Spain continued its domination of FIFA's world rankings by establishing a record lead in its 10th straight month at the top.
- Associated Press
- Updated: April 08, 2009 12:39 PM IST
Read Time: 2 min
Zurich:
The European champions beat Turkey home and away over the past month to extend their lead over second-place Germany to 367 points, the most enjoyed by any team since the rankings were launched in 1993. The latest rankings were released on Wednesday.
Spain is now unbeaten in 31 matches.
The top three places remained unchanged, with the Netherlands in third, while Brazil moved up one spot to overtake World Cup holder Italy _ which was hit by last week's failure to beat Ireland in qualifying for the 2010 tournament.
Argentina remained in sixth place, despite its 6-1 humbling at Bolivia, but the rest of the top 10 changed following a month containing two rounds of World Cup qualifying matches and a total 109 internationals.
England jumped two spots to seventh after continuing its perfect competitive record under coach Fabio Capello, pushing Croatia and Russia down a spot each. France jumped two spots to round out the top 10 after a pair of 1-0 wins over Lithuania.
Cameroon remained the highest ranked African nation despite slipping three spots to 19th following a surprise 1-0 loss at Togo, which was the biggest riser with a 26-point move up to No. 65.
The United States moved up another two places to 15th, its highest position since July 2007, with Australia the highest ranked team from the Asian confederation at No. 32.
The top 25 in FIFA's world rankings released on Wednesday (previous month's ranking in parentheses):
1. Spain (1), 1,729 points.
2. Germany (2), 1,362.
3. Netherlands (3), 1,360.
4. Brazil (5), 1,275.
5. Italy (4), 1,271.
6. Argentina (6), 1,201.
7. England (9), 1,173.
8. Croatia (7), 1,151.
9. Russia (8), 1,117.
10. France (12), 1,074.
11. Portugal (10), 1,013.
12. Czech Republic (13), 968.
13. Greece (19), 927.
14. Turkey (11), 925.
15. United States (17), 919.
16. Uruguay (21), 909.
17. Paraguay (15), 896.
18. Switzerland (22), 883.
19. Cameroon (16), 871.
20. Bulgaria (27), 840.
21. Israel (18), 836.
22. Ukraine (14), 832.
23. Serbia (36), 819.
24. Scotland (28), 815.
25. Mexico (23), 808.
Spain continued its domination of FIFA's world rankings by establishing a record lead in its 10th straight month at the top.The European champions beat Turkey home and away over the past month to extend their lead over second-place Germany to 367 points, the most enjoyed by any team since the rankings were launched in 1993. The latest rankings were released on Wednesday.
Spain is now unbeaten in 31 matches.
The top three places remained unchanged, with the Netherlands in third, while Brazil moved up one spot to overtake World Cup holder Italy _ which was hit by last week's failure to beat Ireland in qualifying for the 2010 tournament.
Argentina remained in sixth place, despite its 6-1 humbling at Bolivia, but the rest of the top 10 changed following a month containing two rounds of World Cup qualifying matches and a total 109 internationals.
England jumped two spots to seventh after continuing its perfect competitive record under coach Fabio Capello, pushing Croatia and Russia down a spot each. France jumped two spots to round out the top 10 after a pair of 1-0 wins over Lithuania.
Cameroon remained the highest ranked African nation despite slipping three spots to 19th following a surprise 1-0 loss at Togo, which was the biggest riser with a 26-point move up to No. 65.
The United States moved up another two places to 15th, its highest position since July 2007, with Australia the highest ranked team from the Asian confederation at No. 32.
The top 25 in FIFA's world rankings released on Wednesday (previous month's ranking in parentheses):
1. Spain (1), 1,729 points.
2. Germany (2), 1,362.
3. Netherlands (3), 1,360.
4. Brazil (5), 1,275.
5. Italy (4), 1,271.
6. Argentina (6), 1,201.
7. England (9), 1,173.
8. Croatia (7), 1,151.
9. Russia (8), 1,117.
10. France (12), 1,074.
11. Portugal (10), 1,013.
12. Czech Republic (13), 968.
13. Greece (19), 927.
14. Turkey (11), 925.
15. United States (17), 919.
16. Uruguay (21), 909.
17. Paraguay (15), 896.
18. Switzerland (22), 883.
19. Cameroon (16), 871.
20. Bulgaria (27), 840.
21. Israel (18), 836.
22. Ukraine (14), 832.
23. Serbia (36), 819.
24. Scotland (28), 815.
25. Mexico (23), 808.
Topics mentioned in this article
Football
Bayern Munchen
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