Spain finishes year at No. 1, while US has best spot in 2 years at No. 14 in FIFA rankings

Spain marks a year atop world soccer rankings

ZURICH — European champion Spain completed a year atop FIFA’s world rankings, while the United States moved into its best position in two years at No. 14 in the latest monthly standings published Wednesday.

The Netherlands moved up one place to sit at No. 2 for the first time since October 2005. Euro 2008 runner-up Germany fell to third.

World champion Italy is fourth, swapping places with No. 5 Brazil despite the South American champions winning 2-0 when the two met in a February exhibition. Rankings are calculated on results from the previous four years.

England also rose one place to sixth, climbing above No. 7 Argentina. Croatia, Russia and France rounded out the top 10.

Paraguay, which leads the South American qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup, climbed four places to No. 13.

No. 19 Ukraine and No. 20 Serbia each climbed three places, while Denmark rose five to No. 24.

Cameroon is the best-placed African nation at 21st, a fall of two spots, and Burkina Faso rose seven to a best-ever 50th.

Australia leads the Asian confederation, rising three spots to No. 29, with Japan moving up four places at No. 31.

A total of 21 exhibition matches were played in the past month and count toward the current rankings.

The next month sees World Cup qualifiers played around the globe and the Confederations Cup from June 14-28. The tournament featuring Brazil, Egypt, Iraq, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, host South Africa and the U.S. is a test event for the 2010 World Cup finals.