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Brazil tops the world despite defeat

Despite a thumping 3-0 defeat at the hands of France in the just concluded World Cup football tournament, Brazil remains on top of the latest world rankings, released by FIFA.

The Cup, however, saw a lot of upward mobility, especially by France and Croatia. The new world champions jumped 15 places, to move into the second spot behind Brazil, while Croatia, which capped a fine run by defeating the Netherlands to claim third place, also moved 15 places up, from 19 to number four in rankings.

The top ten reads thus: (Change from May rankings in brackets): 1. Brazil 73.84 points; 2. France 70.18 (+15); 3. Germany 68.65 (-1); 4. Croatia 66.62 (+15); 5. Argentina 65.14 (+1); 6. Czech Republic 64.90 (-3); 7. Yugoslavia 64.17 (+1); 8 . The Netherlands 64.07 (+17) and Italy 64.07 (+6); 10. England 62.66 (-5).

Agencies