ZURICH, Switzerland -- Italy consolidated its place as the
world's top-ranked soccer team and Brazil moved up to second in the
FIFA rankings Wednesday.
The world champions have 1,606 points, and Brazil was followed
by Argentina. Brazil has 1,539 points and Argentina 1,520. The
United States remained in 29th place with 785 points.
The rest of the top 10 stayed the same as last month, with
France in fourth place, followed by Germany, Netherlands, Portugal,
England, Spain and Czech Republic.
Scotland moved up five places to 14th because of the devaluation
of past defeats and strong performances over the last few months.
It's Scotland's best position since the rankings were introduced in
1993.
Poland moved up three places to 18th and Sweden advanced two
places to 22nd. Chile was the biggest loser, dropping six places to
43rd.