Brazil stayed top of the latest world rankings published yesterday by FIFA that determine the seeded European teams in playoffs to reach the World Cup.
European champions Spain closed the gap on the Confederations Cup winners, but remained second, followed by the Netherlands. World champions Italy broke a tie in last month’s rankings with Germany to stand alone as No. 4.
Argentina’s victories after late goals against Peru and Uruguay in the past week helped them climb two places to No. 6, ahead of England.
Croatia rose one place to No. 8 even though they were eliminated from the World Cup after trailing England and Ukraine in their group.
The seeded teams for the playoffs that will decide the final four European nations going to next year’s tournament in South Africa are France, Portugal, Russia and Greece.
France moved up a place to No. 9, Portugal climbed seven spots to No. 10, Russia dropped six places to No. 12, while Greece are ranked 16th.
They will be drawn against four non-seeded teams, led by No. 22 Ukraine, No. 34 Republic of Ireland, No. 42 Bosnia-Herzegovina and No. 49 Slovenia.
The playoff draw will be made on Monday at FIFA headquarters in Zurich. The home-and-away matches are scheduled for Nov. 15 and Nov. 18.
The US stayed at No. 11 as the best of the CONCACAF nations, while Mexico rose six places to No. 18. Both sealed their World Cup places this month.
Cameroon, who can clinch their place next month, heads the African nations at No. 14 after jumping 15 places. Ivory Coast, who have qualified, are next best at 19th.
The top 20 includes 13 World Cup-qualified teams, and five more who have a second chance in playoffs. Only Croatia and the No. 15 the Czech Republic are eliminated.
Denmark dropped 11 places to No. 27 despite winning their qualifying group this month.
Australia, who qualified in September, remained the best Asian confederation nation despite falling 10 places to No. 24.
New Zealand are the best Oceania nation and rose 17 places to No. 83. They are in a playoff with Bahrain to reach the World Cup finals.
World Cup hosts South Africa dropped 12 places to No. 85, while North Korea at No. 91 are currently the lowest-ranked qualifiers.
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