Spain Retains Top Spot In New FIFA rankings

Newly-crowned European champions Spain retained their status as world number one in the latest FIFA world rankings.

European nations dominate the list, with world champions Italy up one place to second as Euro 2008 runners-up Germany dropped to third.

The Netherlands and Croatia remained at four and five in front of the top South American nations --Brazil and Argentina -- at six and seven.

Turkey climbed three places to make the top 10, replacing fellow-Euro 2008 semifinalists Russia -- down two to 12rh.

Cameroon are the leading African nation, climbing one place to 14th in a swap with England, who did not qualify for Euro 2008.

Mexico made the biggest move among the leading nations, rising eight places to 24th to take over from the United States as the top CONCACAF country.

Other major movers include Gabon, up 12 to 62th; Algeria rising 14 to 76th and Trinidad & Tobago up 12 to 80th position.

A total of 89 international matches played in the past month were taken into consideration. The next rankings are due on October 8 and will include two rounds of qualifying matches for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Experience World Cup Top 100

Ranking, Team, Pts Sept 08, +/- Ranking, +/- Pts Aug 08

1	Spain	1565	0		8
2	Italy	1339	1		19
3	Germany	1329	-1		-14
4	Netherlands	1295	0		-4
5	Croatia	1266	0		-16
6	Brazil	1252	0		10
7	Argentina	1230	0		11
8	Czech Republic	1134	0		-12
9	Portugal	1120	0		-2
10	Turkey	1033	3		23
11	France	1019	1		7
12	Russia	1013	-2		-10
13	Romania	1007	-2		-14
14	Cameroon	999	1		5
15	England	991	-1		-12
16	Scotland	976	0		-12
16	Bulgaria	976	1		46
18	Greece	921	0		25
19	Israel	874	1		-2
20	Ghana	864	-1		-28
21	Egypt	841	0		-10
22	Uruguay	817	2		4
23	Côte d'Ivoire	814	2		12
24	Mexico	807	8		57
25	Paraguay	801	-3		-19
26	Ukraine	799	2		13
27	Nigeria	791	0		3
28	USA	788	3		21
29	Colombia	785	-6		-31
30	Poland	779	-1		1
31	Sweden	773	-5		-28
32	Northern Ireland	761	0		11
33	Serbia	746	1		-3
34	Norway	733	-5		-45
35	Japan	707	0		-20
36	Denmark	696	0		-26
37	Morocco	671	0		-19
38	Republic of Ireland	662	3		-4
39	Australia	655	-1		-30
40	Chile	654	-1		-26
41	Guinea	650	-1		-20
42	Finland	649	0		-4
43	Switzerland	644	1		-1
44	Tunisia	643	3		14
45	Senegal	623	-2		-26
46	Iran	614	-1		-29
47	Mali	604	1		-20
48	Saudi Arabia	573	4		-2
48	Moldova	573	1		-49
50	Hungary	561	0		-30

51	Korea Republic	558	2		2
52	Ecuador	556	4		14
53	Wales	549	-2		-29
54	Lithuania	545	5		25
55	Belgium	530	-9		-107
56	FYR Macedonia	519	-2		-29
57	Belarus	518	0		-18
58	Angola	513	0		-9
59	Uzbekistan	505	-4		-40
60	Honduras	502	1		-4
61	Venezuela	496	-1		-12
62	Gabon	485	12		37
63	Latvia	479	2		-5
64	Burkina Faso	478	-1		-21
65	Cyprus	476	-3		-27
66	Bahrain	475	1		13
67	Slovakia	474	-3		-23
68	Congo DR	461	4		5
69	Zambia	456	-2		-6
70	South Africa	447	3		-4
71	Bolivia	443	-2		-17
72	Iraq	439	4		6
73	Peru	438	-4		-22
73	Costa Rica	438	5		24
75	Bosnia-Herzegovina	435	-1		-13
76	Algeria	423	14		37
77	Georgia	421	9		28
78	Togo	420	-12		-57
79	Slovenia	415	-2		-11
80	Trinidad and Tobago	414	12		35
81	Qatar	412	-10		-46
81	Canada	412	-2		0
83	Zimbabwe	406	1		10
84	Suriname	405	0		9
85	Rwanda	400	-2		1
86	Kenya	395	5		11
87	Uganda	392	9		21
87	Equatorial Guinea	392	-6		-11
89	Cape Verde Islands	391	-7		-9
90	Libya	386	-3		-6
90	Gambia	386	-2		-1
92	Oman	383	-4		-4
92	Cuba	383	-12		-22
94	China PR	375	3		6
95	New Caledonia	368	21		86
96	Panama	365	-4		-14
97	Syria	364	2		-3
98	Armenia	358	-4		-14
99	Guatemala	356	1		-5
100	Congo	355	5		11