Talkin Sport - Spain unchallenged at the top

There are no changes to the top three in the latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking: European champions Spain remain unchallenged at the top and have even managed to extend their lead over their nearest challengers Italy and Germany. Things are far more exciting in the next few spots in the ranking. Brazil (4th, up 2), the Netherlands (5th, down 1) and Croatia (6th, down 1) are all within a few points of each other and, together with Argentina (7th), are locked in an exciting head-to-head battle. Russia (9th, up 3) have moved up three places, thus managing to break back into the top ten, at the expense of Turkey (13th, down 3).

The month’s biggest winners, however, are unquestionably from Oceania. On the back of two convincing victories over New Caledonia in their FIFA World Cup™ qualifying campaign, New Zealand have gained 268 points and are currently ranked 54th. This means that the All Blacks are once again the highest-ranked OFC team. Other climbers this month include Israel (16th, up 3), Lithuania (37th, up 17) and FYR Macedonia (46th, up 10), all of whom have recorded their best placing since the ranking was introduced.

A total of 125 international “A” matches have been played worldwide since the last edition of the ranking, of which 106 were qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. The remaining internationals were qualifiers for the CONCACAF Gold Cup (six matches) and friendlies (13 matches).

· Leader: Spain (1, unchanged)
· Moves into top 10: Russia (9, up 3)
· Moves out of top 10: Turkey (13, down 3)
· Matches played in total: 125 matches
· Most matches played (3): Mexico, Chile, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, New Caledonia
· Biggest move by points: New Zealand, plus 268 points
· Biggest move by ranks: New Zealand: up 57 ranks
· Biggest drop by points: Scotland, minus 156 points
· Biggest drop by ranks: Equatorial Guinea, down 34 ranks
· Newly ranked teams: none
· Teams that are no longer ranked: none