LAHORE, April 12: Pakistan has climbed up five places to reach No 161 in the latest FIFA world rankings while there have been no changes in the top five with Argentina still leading the way ahead of Brazil, Italy, Spain and Germany.

Pakistan were still behind archrivals India, who had been downed remarkably to No 154 from their March ranking of 148.

However, Pakistan started 2008 at No 171 and plunged further to 181, before improving their position by winning matches against Malaysia, Myanmar, Palestine, Bangladesh and Nepal in different competitions.

Competition among the South Asian region countries comes closer with this new ranking as Sri Lanka also improved by climbing to the 160th spot from their previous 168. India, Pakistan and the tiny island are therefore nearest to each other.

The FIFA ranking currently has 207 nations on the card.