Portugal jumps to fifth in men's soccer rankings

NYON, Switzerland, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Portugal jumped to No. 5 and Spain continues to hold onto the top spot in FIFA men's soccer in the final ranking before the draw for the 2014 World Cup.

Spain's current run at No. 1 began in September 2011 and, with 1,507 ranking points, the Spaniards are comfortably ahead of second-ranked Germany. The Germans have 1,318 points.

Portugal defeated Sweden twice in the last month in the European playoffs, results that helped boost Portugal nine places to fifth in the world rankings.

Brazil, which will host the 2014 World Cup, won recent friendlies against Honduras and Chile and move back into the Top 10 at 10th. The Brazilians were 11th in the October rankings.

With Portugal and Brazil back in the Top 10, Belgium, which was fifth last month, and England, which was 10th, fell out of the leading tier of the rankings.

The update was the final one for the rankings before next Friday's draw for the 2014 World Cup.

Argentina, with 1,251 points, takes the No. 3 spot and Colombia (1,200) is fourth, positions unchanged from October.

Portugal has 1,172 rankings points and Uruguay (1,132) remained ranked No. 6. Italy (1,120) moves up one place to seventh while Switzerland (1,113) is eighth. The Netherlands (1,106) is No. 9 and Brazil (1,102) is 10th.

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.