NYON, Switzerland, March 7 (UPI) -- The Netherlands regains the No. 2 spot in the FIFA men's world soccer rankings while Brazil and Argentina make moves up the Top 10.
Spain remains No. 1, a position it's held all but one month since the Spaniards won the World Cup in the summer of 2010. Spain has led the FIFA rankings for 19 of the last 20 months.
The Netherlands slipped to No. 3 last month but used a 3-2 win over Top-10 team England to repass Germany for the second spot.
Traditional South American powers Brazil and Argentina have strong moves in the rankings this month. Brazil jumps from seventh to fifth, while Argentina goes from 11th to No. 8 and is just barely behind No. 7 Portugal.
Spain and Uruguay, which is fourth, are the only teams in the Top 10 to hold the same position they had last month.
Spain has 1,561 rankings points, nearly 200 up on the Netherlands (1,369) while Germany, now third, has 1,332. Uruguay has 1,289 points.
Brazil improves to 1,157 points, shoving England (1,121) and Portugal (1,106) each down one spot to sixth and seventh, respectively. Argentina has 1,102 points while No. 9 Italy totals 1,062 and Croatia, in the 10th spot, has 1,049.
The FIFA world rankings are determined by points awarded from match results in a three-year period, with more recent games given greater weight. Teams get additional points for playing relatively strong opponents. The next FIFA men's rankings are to be released April 11.
