Republic of Ireland jump one in FIFA rankings

The Republic of Ireland have jumped one place up to 14th in the latest FIFA World rankings, swapping positions with Euro 2004 hosts Portugal.

The move is in no small part due to new manager Brian Kerr's dramatic rescue of a side that lost it's opening two games of the Euro 2004 qualifying campaign, conceding six goals along the way to Russia and Switzerland.

Little will be read into the latest figures however, as Portugal among others have lost out on points due to lack of competitive action. The host nation are not required to qualify for the next tournament.

Brazil remain top with a total of 834 points with France (814) in hot pursuit. France had held joint second place with Spain before the announcement but the Spaniards have now dropped to third on 762 points.

England drop one to eighth as they swap places with Group seven opponents and World Cup semi-finalists Turkey.

A move up of five positions from 64th to 59th will be welcomed by Scotland manager Berti Vogts but will provide little respite for the German despite his side digging out a 1-1 result against his countrymen earlier this month.

Wales however may feel a little aggrieved having dropped one position to 51st on 558 points, a mere 20 ahead of Scotland, after winning four out of four in Euro 2004 qualifying group nine.

Northern Ireland gained one position as they moved to 110th on 408 points.

FIFA's standings are based on a statistical analysis of countries' results over eight years, weighted according to how recently the matches were played, the strength of the opponents and the importance of each match.

FIFA World rankings top 20

1. (1) Brazil 834 points
2. (2=) France 814
3. (2=) Spain 762
4. (5) Argentina 754
5. (6) Netherlands 752
6. (4) Germany 745
7. (8) Turkey 733
8. (7) England 727
9. (10=) United States 717
10. (13) Czech Republic 712
11= (12) Italy 71
11=(9) Mexico 711
13. (10=) Denmark 710
14. (15) Ireland 703
15. (14) Portugal 692
16. (18) Cameroon 691
17. (16) Belgium 672
18= (17) Costa Rica 663
18= (20) Sweden 663
20. (19) Paraguay 657