ZURICH: Brazil have leapfrogged World Cup holders Germany into second place in the latest FIFA world rankings released on Thursday, narrowing the gap on their traditional rivals Argentina, who are still the world’s top-ranked team.

Brazil have won their last six World Cup qualifiers, and beat Argentina 3-0 earlier this month.

Chile have climbed above Belgium and Colombia into fourth place in the rankings, while Wales and England have dropped a place each into 12th and 13th, respectively, with Ireland climbing 10 places to break into the top-25.

Armenia are the biggest movers, jumping 38 places to 87th-place, while Chad have fared the worst, plunging 49 places to 152nd.

Iran are still Asia’s highest-ranked team despite falling three place down to 30th, while the Netherlands have fallen two places and are currently in 22nd place, one behind Euro 2016 surprise package Iceland.

The next set of FIFA World Rankings will be released on Dec 22.

Top 10 (last month’s positions in brackets): 1. Argentina (1), 2. Brazil (3), 3. Germany (2), 4. Chile (6), 5. Belgium (4), 6. Colombia (5), 7. France (7), 8. Portugal (8), 9. Uruguay (9), 10. Spain (10).

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2016