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Spain pulls closer to top of FIFA rankings

Posted on: Wednesday, 2 September 2009, 07:26 CDT

Brazil remains the world's top-rated men's soccer team but No. 2 Spain pulled closer to the top spot and Italy crept into a tie for fourth in FIFA rankings.

Brazil knocked Spain from the No. 1 place in the rankings in July but lost 38 ratings points this month for a total of 1,604. Spain has 1,588 points in rankings released Wednesday by FIFA.

Third-ranked Netherlands (1,376 points) has a 190-point advantage over Italy and Germany, which are tied for fourth. Italy had been ranked fifth last month.

The rest of the Top 10 is bunched with No. 6 Russia (1,129 points) 2 points up on England and eighth-ranked Argentina close with 1,113 points. Croatia (1,101 points) gained 70 points during the last month and moved into ninth place, switching places with France (1,040).

A total of 70 matches that affected the rankings were played in August and several more are scheduled this month, meaning there could be considerable movement in the Top 10 when the next rankings are released Oct. 7.

The FIFA world rankings are determined by points received from match results over a three-year period, with more recent matches given greater weight. Teams also get more points for playing relatively strong opponents.

Source: United Press International

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