NYON, Switzerland, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- The United States continues to be ranked No. 1 in the FIFA world women's soccer rankings, but No. 2 Germany made a big dent in the Americans' lead.
The United States has been ranked No. 1 since December 2007 and generally held the position by a comfortable margin, including a 66-point advantage in the August rankings. But the Americans dropped a 2-1 decision to Mexico and, combined with devaluation of earlier results, lost 42 points in the rankings.
It wasn't enough to knock the Americans off the top of the list, but Germany is now just 32 points back.
Canada, which won four 2011 World Cup qualifiers in the last three weeks, improved its position four spots to No. 9, dropping England from ninth to 10th. Denmark, the previous No. 10, slipped four places in the rankings.
Outside of the tightening of points, those were the only changes in the FIFA women's Top 10. The United States has 2,185 points with Germany second at 2,153, but No. 3 Brazil (2,116), fourth-ranked Sweden (2,063) and No. 5 Japan (2,036) aren't that far behind.
North Korea (2,005) is sixth and Norway (2,002) held onto the No. 7 spot. France (1,998) is ranked eighth ahead of No. 9 Canada (1,974) and 10th-ranked England (1,973).
FIFA rating points are determined over three years of matches, with later matches and games against higher-ranked opponents more heavily weighted. The next FIFA world women's ranking is to be released March 18.
