World Cup champion Spain held onto the top spot in the FIFA monthly world rankings released Wednesday by soccer's international governing body.
Spain, which is also the reigning European champion, retained the top ranking, ahead of World Cup runners-up the Netherlands (No. 2), Brazil (No. 3), Germany (No. 4) and Argentina (No. 5)
The top 10 is rounded out by Uruguay, England, Portugal, Egypt and Chile
Four-time World Cup champions Italy remained at No. 11.
The top 13 spots in the ranking were unchanged from last month because only two international matches were played worldwide in the past month since the conclusion of the World Cup on July 11
Moving backward was Canada, which dropped one spot to No. 101, sandwiched between North Korea and Guinea.
It's Canada's lowest world ranking since March 2007 when it was 103rd.
The United States fell five spots but is still the top team from CONCACAF, the soccer confederation that covers North and Central America and the Caribbean, at No. 18.
Canada ranks ninth among CONCACAF nations behind the U.S., Mexico (No. 25), Honduras (No. 46), Costa Rica (No. 53), Trinidad and Tobago (No. 76), Jamaica (No. 82), El Salvador (No. 86) and Panama (No. 97).
Six countries — Montserrat, San Marino, Papua New Guinea, Central African Republic, Anguilla and American Samoa — are tied for last at No. 202.
The next FIFA ranking will be published on Sept. 15.
FIFA also announced Wednesday amendments to its ranking formula, which ranks teams based on results over the previous four years.
Under the new system, results from South American countries are weighted equally with European teams, CONCACAF's status has increased, and Africa has moved ahead of Asia and Oceania.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2010/08/11/sp-fifa-rankings.html#ixzz0wJAOVKox
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