England drop in Fifa world rankings to 20th

RooneyEngland have fallen to 20th in the latest Fifa world rankings, their lowest position since May 1996. The drop of 10 places following a poor World Cup means they are behind Bosnia-Hercegovina, Costa Rica and the USA, BBC reported.

Spain have gone from top to eighth, with Germany leading the rankings for the first time in two decades.

Scotland remain at 27th and Wales have dropped three places to 44th, while Northern Ireland are up one to 89th and Republic of Ireland stay 70th.

England were third in August 2012 but World Cup defeats by Italy and Uruguay and a draw against Costa Rica have seen their standing in world football suffer.

Not since before Euro 96, when a combination of failing to qualify for the 1994 World Cup and two years without competitive football saw them drop to 24th in the rankings, have England been so low.

World Cup finalists Argentina are second while the Netherlands have climbed 12 places to third after their impressive run at the tournament.

Brazil dropped four places to seventh while Colombia, who lost to the host nation in the World Cup quarter-finals, rise to fourth. Belgium and France benefited from reaching the World Cup quarter-finals, climbing to fifth and 10th respectively.

World top 10 (compared to June rankings)

1 – Germany (+1)

6 – Uruguay (+1)

2 – Argentina (+3)

7 – Brazil (-4)

3 – Netherlands (+12)

8 – Spain (-7)

4 – Colombia (+4)

9 – Switzerland (-3)

5 – Belgium (+6)

10 – France (+7)



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