England sixth best team

After no movement in the top 39 places last month, there was plenty of activity this time with Fabio Capello's side leapfrogging old rivals Argentina into sixth spot.

European champions Spain completed a year on top of the table, while the Netherlands moved up to second place for the first time in almost four years.

World champions Italy moving up a place to fourth, Germany down one to third and Brazil down one to fifth.

Paraguay, top of the South American World Cup qualifying zone, were the biggest movers among leading nations, jumping up from 17th to 13th while Serbia and Ukraine moved into the top 20 at the expense of Cameroon and Bulgaria.

The rankings are based on team's performances over the last four years.

(last month's positions in brackets)

1. (1) Spain

2. (3) Netherlands

3. (2) Germany

4. (5) Italy

5. (4) Brazil

6. (7) England

7. (6) Argentina

8. (8) Croatia

9. (9) Russia

10. (10) France

11. (11) Portugal

12. (14) Turkey

13. (17) Paraguay

14. (15) United States

15. (12) Czech Republic

16. (18) Switzerland

17 = (13) Greece

17 = (16) Uruguay

19. (22) Ukraine

20. (23) Serbia