US join top ten

Even in the month after the World Cup, there are a number of changes to report in the FIFA ranking list. Nearly 50 matches have taken place since the end of the festival in Asia, but mathematics have also shaped the new ranking this time round, with past games becoming less significant in terms of ranking points.

A devaluation of past results sees Spain (3rd, up 1) inch ahead of France (4th, down 2) into the top three, just behind world champions Brazil and Argentina.

Other teams to profit include England (7th, up 1) and Italy (9th, up 1) with the US (equal 9th, up 2) also breaking into the Top Ten for the first time. The opposite is true for South American champions Colombia (15th, down 6), who drop out of the Top Ten having not qualified for the recent World Cup.

Iraq (60th, up 8) defeated near neighbours Syria twice to move up the August rankings, but the Mover of the Month title belongs to the newly crowned Oceania champions, New Zealand.

By winning the Oceania Nations Cup, defeating Australia in the final, New Zealand gained a massive 41 points to sit in 47th place, just behind Australia.

The index value, which takes into account a team's strength as well as the number of points gained, reveals no surprises with New Zealand and Tahiti making the largest strides forward. However, New Zealand still find themselves in fourth place over the whole year so far, behind Senegal, Brazil and Cameroon.

In the August issue of the rankings list Malta slipped down two places to 118th. Sigfried Held's national team has 366 points, two short of nearest UEFA rivals Azerbaijan who are 117th.

Five European national teams are still behind Malta in the rankings. These are: Faroe Islands (123), Andorra (140), Luxembourg (147), Liechtenstein (150) and San Marino (161).

Macedonia, Malta's next opponents in a friendly on Wednesday in Skopje, are ranked 91st while Slovenia, who play against the Maltese in the opening EURO 2004 qualifying Group One on September 7, moved up to 34th in the world list.