Argentina go second as Belgium, Uruguay rise

The 185 matches played in the past month have certainly left their mark on the current edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. In the top ten, only Spain’s ranking remains unchanged, and the world and European champions have managed to further extend their lead at the summit, where they have reigned since September 2011. However, there has been a big shake-up just below pole position, where Argentina have ousted Germany out of second place after successfully qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™. Uruguay (7th, up 5) are also among this month’s climbers, making it back into the top ten at the expense of Portugal (11th, down 4). There are currently four South American teams in the top ten. Belgium continue to rise up the global ladder. The Red Devils are unbeaten in their Brazil 2014 qualifying campaign and, with their current ranking of sixth, have once more reached their best-ever position. There have been many changes, not just in the upper echelons of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, which have mainly been caused by the 86 FIFA World Cup qualifiers played in all of the confederations except the OFC over the past month. Of the 820 total preliminary matches leading to Brazil 2014, 747 have unfolded, and nine teams – Japan, Australia, Iran, Korea Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, USA and Argentina – have secured places at the tournament alongside the host nation. All matches played up to and including 10 September have been taken into account for the current edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. The current edition of has taken the FIFA Disciplinary Committee’s decision of 12 September 2013 on the Tunisia-Cape Verde Islands match into account. The next instalment will be published on 17 October 2013.touch.fifa.com/worldranking/news/newsid=2172489/index.html