[GreatBriton]

And France, who not long ago were 2nd, are now down in 7th.

The other two so-called European footballing superpowers, Germany and Italy, are not in the Top 1o.



No. 6, with a bullet
U.S. rises to best-ever placing in FIFA rankings





ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) -- The United States improved to No. 6 in FIFA's rankings Wednesday, the Americans' best showing in the monthly ratings by soccer's governing body.

The Americans, who will play in this week's CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals, had never been ranked higher than seventh. They were 10th last month, but passed France, England, Portugal and Spain to move within one spot and three points of rival Mexico.

World Cup champion Brazil remained No. 1, and Argentina improved one spot to second. The Netherlands was third, and the Czech Republic dropped from second to fourth.

France fell two spots to seventh, and England, Spain and Portugal rounded out the top 10.

Germany moved from 21st to 11th, the biggest improvement of any nation in the top 20.

The United States will play Honduras in the Gold Cup semifinals Thursday night in East Rutherford, N.J.


Current FIFA Rankings (Top 10)
Rank Country Previous.
1 Brazil 1
2 Argentina 3
3 Netherlands 4
4 Czech Republic 2
5 Mexico 6
6 United States 10
7 France 5
8(t) England 7
8(t) Spain 9
10 Portugal 8


Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

[GreatBriton]

However, I still wouldn't pay too much attention to the world rankings. Remember, the USA, because it is a North American country, only has to play very easy North American teams such as Jamaica, Guatemala, Honduras, Canada, Trinidad & Tobago, Cuba, whereas the big European teams (England, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Holland) have to play each other, so the US has its slightly easier, because it plays easier opposition.

[Hester]

I would think the computer would take difficulty of opponents into considersation. Could the US take over #1 if they spent their time beating the crap out of us?

Maybe I'll make the effort to find out how they make these calculations I wonder if it's like NCAA football and the BCS standings complicated?

[Tman1]

Oh well, were #1 in World Hockey rankings and thats all that matters.