Spain back to world No. 1 ranking

NYON, Switzerland, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Spain has regained to No. 1 spot, displacing Brazil in FIFA's men's world soccer rankings, released Friday.

Brazil dropped 40 points in the ranking system, allowing Spain to retake the top spot. Brazil became No. 1 in July in the monthly rankings, dropping Spain to No. 2. The teams had held that order since then.

Spain won its three most recent matches, including a 5-2 triumph over Bosnia-Herzegovina in a World Cup qualifier. Brazil was 2-0-1 over its last three matches, tying Venezuela 0-0 in a qualifying match.

The 2010 World Cup field was set over the last month and the world rankings were juggled across the board. In addition to the change at the top, six other Top 10 teams had their rankings changed.

The Netherlands kept the No. 3 spot and Italy is still No. 4, but Portugal improved five positions to fifth in the world.

Germany was down one spot to sixth and France, embroiled over controversy about its match with Ireland, was up two spots to seventh. Argentina is eighth, England ninth and Croatia 10th, each of those teams falling two spots this month.

The FIFA world rankings are determined by points received from match results over a three-year period, with more recent matches given greater weight. Teams also get more points for playing relatively strong opponents.