Spain stays atop FIFA men's rankings

• Tweet

NYON, Switzerland, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Spain and Germany top the FIFA men's soccer rankings but the rest of the Top 10 was jumbled by recent results, the rankings update Wednesday indicates.

Spain lost 47 ranking points, mostly due to previous match devaluation. The Spaniards have topped the monthly rankings since August 2011. Germany, which is 152 points behind Spain, is second as it has been for the last five months.

Spain has 1,564 points and Germany, which lost 38 points, has 1,421.

Argentina, after wins over Uruguay and Chile, gained 141 points and passes Portugal, which has 1,178 points, for third place. The Portuguese are No. 4.

Italy jumped from eighth to No. 5 after a pair of wins that boosted its point total to 1,169, 2 points ahead of sixth-ranked England while the Netherlands (1,128) slipped one place to No. 7.

Colombia, with 1,110 points, is ranked eighth and Russia, which had a won over Portugal last month, moves up three places to ninth with 1,084 points. Croatia (1,078 points) comes in 10th, up one place from last month.

Uruguay lost two games last month and drops four places to 11th and Greece, with a win and a tie, moves from 10th to No. 12.

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 ranking update is scheduled for Dec. 19.