(Reuters) – Germany’s World Cup triumph has seen them rise to the top of the world rankings for the first time in 20 years, FIFA announced yesterday.
The 1-0 victory in the final has taken them up one place to top spot, ahead of their opponents in the Brazil final, Argentina, who rise three to second.
The Netherlands move up a hefty 12 rungs on the ladder to third after their impressive World Cup third-place finish.
Spain have paid the penalty for not progressing from the group stages in Brazil by dropping from first to eighth place with Colombia, Belgium and Uruguay occupying the places above them.
Hosts Brazil, hammered 7-1 by Germany in the World Cup semi-final in the shock of the tournament, drop four places to seventh.
England have fallen 10 places to 20th in the list, their lowest position since May 1996, after a dismal World Cup when defeat in their opening two group matches gave them their worst performance in over 50 years.
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World top 10 (compared to June rankings) 1 – Germany (+1) 2 – Argentina (+3) 3 – Netherlands (+12) 4 – Colombia (+4) 5 – Belgium (+6) 6 – Uruguay (+1) 7 – Brazil (-4) 8 – Spain (-7) 9 – Switzerland (-3) 10 – France (+7)
