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Euro 2012 highlights: England 0-0 Italy (2-4 pens)
England rise to fourth in Fifa world football rankings
England have risen two places to fourth in the Fifa world rankings despite their Euro 2012 quarter-final exit.
European champions Spain remain number one, while beaten finalists Italy - who knocked England out on penalties - go up six places to sixth.
The 2014 World Cup hosts Brazil drop out of the top 10 for the first time, falling five spots to 11th.
Wales remain 38th, Scotland are ranked 49th - down eight places - while Northern Ireland move up one to 102nd.
Brazil's rankings fall
Brazil are out of the top 10 for the first time since the Fifa rankings were created in August 1993
The Republic of Ireland, who lost all three group matches at Euro 2012, fall to 26th from 18th.
Both defeated Euro 2012 semi-finalists rise in the rankings with Germany up a place in second while Portugal climb five spots to fifth.
The Fifa world rankings are compiled every month, with ranking points accumulated according to results, the importance of the matches played and the strength of opposing teams.
Five-times world champions Brazil, who do not have to qualify for the World Cup as hosts, have played less top-level matches in 2012 than some of the other leading nations.
England have not reached a major tournament semi-final since the European Championship on home soil in 1996.
At Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine, England topped their group after drawing with France and beating Sweden and Ukraine before the defeat on penalties to Italy.
Fifa world rankings - top 20
1. Spain 2. Germany 3. Uruguay 4. England 5. Portugal 6. Italy 7. Argentina 8. Netherlands 9. Croatia 10. Denmark 11. Brazil 12. Greece 13. Russia 14. France 15. Chile 16. Ivory Coast 17. Sweden 18. Czech Republic 19. Mexico 20. Japan
Selected others: 26. Republic of Ireland 38. Wales 49. Scotland 102. Northern Ireland
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Comment number 608.
Rikkot6th July 2012 - 8:14
Now .. why is Brazil falling?
Say there are 2 matches next week: Brazil 10x0 Spain (friendly) & Argentina 1x0 Bolivia (WC 2014 Qual)
Brazil gets 600 pts (3 pt x 1 (friendly) x 2 (Spain's 1st) x 1 (SA vs EURO) x 100 pts);
Argentina gets 877.5 pts (3 pt x 2.5 (WC Qual) x 1.17 (Bolivia-83rd) x 1 (SA) x 100 pts);
So, Argentina climbs 277 pt above Brazil, who killed Spain. Does it make sense now?
Link to this (Comment number 608)
Comment number 607.
Rikkot6th July 2012 - 7:32
I think most of you have the wrong interpretation of the FIFA raking system
. It doesn't tell you who the best teams ARE. It actually tells you which teams HAVE BEEN THE BEST in the last 48 months. And half of the points obtained in the raking come FROM THE PREVIOUS 12 MONTHS.
So, anything that happened prior to July 2008 was forgotten for this month's ranking. And that's that
Link to this (Comment number 607)
Comment number 606.
last_minute_of_extra_time5th July 2012 - 23:06
The only joke on this news story is the number of uneducated posts.
The performance is not relevant, results are.
How stupid do you need to be to not understand that?
Having a panel of judges (like the orcs here) making the call who is 'best' is just not wise.
The list means nothing, it's just doing it's best to try and order chaos.
On past results 4th-6th is where England are. Deal with it.
Link to this (Comment number 606)
Comment number 605.
proper_dinlo5th July 2012 - 22:56
You sure this is FIFA and not UK rankings?
Link to this (Comment number 605)
Comment number 604.
TN235th July 2012 - 22:54
These rantkings are the result of misleading statistical analysis or flawed statistical process.
Either way, the result is almost certainly incorrect. Perhaps having world rankings for national football teams is wrong as the results are inaccurate and misleading?
Link to this (Comment number 604)
Comments 5 of 608