Football Story

22 November 2008 20:52 BST

Spain top Fifa rankings after Euro 2008 win

Spain are the new top-ranked team in world football following their victory at the 2008 European Championships in Austria and Switzerland.

The Spanish replace Argentina as the number one team following the South Americans' disappointing start to their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Despite being knocked out in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 by the eventual winners, World Cup winners Italy moved up a place to second with beaten finalists Germany rising two spots to third.

Brazil are fourth after dropping two places, while a number of teams have been rewarded for their surprisingly good showings at the most recent summer tournament.

Croatia, who lost in the quarter-finals, are up eight places to seventh overall, while semi-finalists Russia have moved up 13 spots to 11th in the world.

Fellow last-four side Turkey improved their position by six places after moving from 20th to 14th.

And despite getting eliminated in the last-eight, even though many had tipped them for the title, the Netherlands moved up five places to fifth.

However, Euro 2004 champions Greece - who were knocked out in the group stages after three straight defeats when defending their crown – have slipped ten places to 18th.

England have been punished for their failure to qualify for Euro 2008 after plummeting six places to 15th.

And Fabio Capello's side are now just one spot above Scotland, who moved up a place to 16th.

Full top 20 in latest Fifa world rankings:

1- Spain
2- Italy
3- Germany
4- Brazil
5- Netherlands
6- Argentina
7- Croatia
8- Czech Republic
9- Portugal
10- France
11- Russia
12- Romania
13- Cameroon
14- Turkey
15- England
16- Scotland
17- Bulgaria
18- Greece
19- Mexico
20- Ghana