Ivory Coast, Australia leap up FIFA rankings

ZURICH (Reuters) - Ivory Coast and Australia both leapt up the FIFA rankings after winning the African Nations Cup and Asian Cup respectively, while tiny Equatorial Guinea moved into the top 50 for the first time.

(Reuters)

Equatorial Guinea, who hosted the Nations Cup, leapt 69 places and are joint 49th with Congo after surpassing expectations and reaching the semi-finals, albeit in controversial style.

Ivory Coast moved up eight places to 20th although Algeria, the team they beat in the quarter-finals, remain Africa's best-placed team in 18th. Runners-up Ghana moved up 12 places to 25th.

Australia climbed 37 places to 63rd, although the rankings still make embarrassing reading for Asia with Iran (41st) as the region's only representatives in the top 50. Next best are South Korea (54th) and Japan (55th).

There was no change in the top five where Germany lead followed by Argentina, Colombia, Belgium and Netherlands.

Rankings (last month's positions in brackets)

1. Germany (1)

2. Argentina (2)

3. Colombia (3)

4. Belgium (4)

5. Netherlands (5)

6. Brazil (6)

7. Portugal (7)

8. France (7)

9. Uruguay (10)

10. Spain (9)

(Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)