Steve Staunton's squad will embark on his whistle-stop tour of America next week with the Republic of Ireland having slipped one place in the latest Fifa rankings.
Nevertheless, despite that fall in the standings, Ireland are among the biggest movers of the year to date and have accumulated a total of 169 ranking points since January, climbing from 49th to 32nd in that period.
Scotland have moved up to 14th, their highest position since the table was introduced in 1993. It represents a leap of five places and is the first time in the 14-year history of the official list that Scotland have been ranked in the top 15.
Former national boss Walter Smith left the job to return to Rangers, but he can take much credit for masterminding a revival which has seen the side win four out of six Euro 2008 qualifying matches.
England are unchanged in eighth while world champions Italy remain in top spot. Brazil have overtaken South American rivals Argentina, down one place to third, in second position.
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