ZURICH: Croatia have climbed five places to fourth in the latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking after their World Cup qualifying wins against Serbia and Wales.
This equals their best position achieved previously after the Croats finished third at the 1998 World Cup.
The leading trio of Spain, Germany and Argentina remain unchanged but England (seventh) and Italy (eighth) both dropped three slots while Holland (ninth) edged back by one.
Behind them Ecuador(10th, up one) overtook Russia (11th, down one) to enter the top 10 for the first time thanks to wins over El Salvador and Paraguay.
In the top 50, Peru (32nd, up nine), Ukraine (37th, up 11), Albania (48th, up 16) and Wales (49th, up 22) have all progressed while, outside the top 50, Equatorial Guinea (59th, up 45), Congo (77th, up 24), Tajikistan (112th, up 40) and Kyrgyzstan (142nd, up 59) have each climbed more than 20 places.
In addition to Ecuador,Venezuela (36th, up seven),Panama (38th, up three), Albania, Equatorial Guinea, Tajikistan and Afghanistan (139th, up two) have all achieved their highest-ever ranking.
A total of 120 A international matches were taken into account for the April ranking, most of them World Cup qualifiers (83) along with the AFC Challenge Cup (20 matches). The remaining 17 matches were friendlies.
The total number of matches taken into account so far this year is 275.
Management summary
Ranking as of 11 April 2013
Rank |
Team |
+/- Ranks |
Points |
+/- Points |
March – Apr 13 |
April 13 |
March – Apr 13 |
||
1 |
Spain |
0 |
1538 |
-72 |
2 |
Germany |
0 |
1428 |
-45 |
3 |
Argentina |
0 |
1292 |
-17 |
4 |
Croatia |
+5 |
1191 |
+111 |
5 |
Portugal |
+2 |
1163 |
+30 |
6 |
Colombia |
0 |
1154 |
-5 |
7 |
England |
-3 |
1135 |
-39 |
8 |
Italy |
-3 |
1117 |
-56 |
9 |
Netherlands |
-1 |
1093 |
-13 |
10 |
Ecuador |
+1 |
1056 |
+19 |
Click here to view the complete ranking.
To find out more about the calculation of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking click here.
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