13 Nov 2008

Spain stay on top of world rankings

7:34 am on 13 November 2008

European champions Spain remain on top of the world football rankings for a fifth successive month.

Spain celebrated back-to-back World Cup qualifying victories over Belgium and Estonia last month to maintain their perfect record in the campaign so far.

Germany have climbed back into second place at the expense of Italy with the world champions paying the price for last month's goalless World Cup qualifying draw in Bulgaria.

After failing to qualify for Euro 2008, England have returned to the top 10 for the first time since the June tournament.

Brazil, the highest ranked non-European team, have slipped one place to fifth.