India move up in FIFA rankings, Spain stay top
India move up in FIFA rankings, Spain stay top
India jumped three places to be placed at 160th in the latest FIFA rankings.

New Delhi: India jumped three places to be placed at 160th in the latest FIFA rankings, issued on Wednesday.

India have 115 points in their kitty.

In last month's list, the country was ranked 163rd, just two places better than India's all-time lowest - the country was ranked 165th in March 2007.

India are now thirteen places above neighbours Pakistan (173), 17 places ahead of Sri Lanka (177) and two places ahead of Maldives (162). However, they are below Bangladesh (141) and Nepal (144) in the rankings.

Meanwhile, Spain extended their lead at the top of FIFA's monthly world rankings, even as 2012 European Championship qualifying group winners Greece and Denmark entered the top 10.

Spain won their two Euro 2012 qualifying matches this month while No. 2 Netherlands lost one, to Sweden.

Germany and South American champions Uruguay stayed third and fourth, respectively. Brazil rose two places to No. 5, ending a downward trend after hitting an 18-year low in September, and are followed by Italy and England.

Friendly wins against Argentina, Costa Rica and Mexico were enough to stop the rot for the five-times world champions as coach Mano Menezes attempts to rebuild the team for the 2014 World Cup, which will be hosted by Brazil.

Greece rose three to share eighth place with Portugal, who lost to the Danes and face a play-off to advance to the Euro 2012 finals.

Argentina, who lost a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Venezuela, are tied at No. 10 with Denmark.

Japan lead the Asian nations at No. 17, and 19th-placed Ivory Coast are the best African country.

Mexico head CONCACAF members at No. 22, and the United States dropped three to No. 34. Former US coach Bob Bradley vaulted over his old team, leading African champions Egypt up seven places to No. 29.

Montenegro fell 13 places to No. 39 despite reaching the Euro 2012 play-offs. Estonia, at No. 59, are the lowest-ranked of the eight play-offs teams.

Wales used their two Euro 2012 wins to leap 45 places to No. 45.

Iraq rose 16 places to No. 91 after beating China in a World Cup qualifier, while Qatar, the 2022 World Cup hosts, rose eight to No. 92.

New Zealand, Oceania's best nation, did not play last month, yet dropped 16 places to No. 104.

Bermuda were the biggest climbers, up 57 places to 132nd thanks mainly to a shock World Cup qualifying win over Trinidad & Tobago.

The rankings weigh all international matches over a rolling four-year cycle. FIFA took account of 136 matches in the past month, including qualifiers for the World Cup and continental championships in Europe and Africa.

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