30 Nov 2013

Portugal up and All Whites down in latest FIFA world rankings

5:12 am on 30 November 2013

Cristiano Ronaldo's match-winning goals for Portugal in World Cup playoff matches against Sweden lifted his country to number five in the latest FIFA football rankings.

Portugal's 1-0 and 3-2 wins fuelled a nine-place jump in the standings as rivals played only friendly matches which score fewer points in the calculations.

FIFA will set World Cup seedings for next weeks draw from October rankings so playoff teams would not gain unfair advantage.

Spain lead an unchanged top four from Germany, Argentina and Colombia.

Mexico used their home-and-away playoff wins against New Zealand to rise four places to number 20.

The All Whites are down 12 places to 91.