Italy tops FIFA rankings

Italians emerged the kings of soccer when FIFA declared their rankings.

It was a blow for Brazil, five times world champions who had to give up their position for Italy. It came in the wake of Brazil's 2-0 defeat to Portugal last week. For the Italians it was celebration time, having regained the ranking that they had lost way back in 1993.

Meanwhile the six teams below Italy and Brazil in the rankings remain unchanged, with Argentina, France, Germany, England, the Netherlands, and Portugal occupying spots three to eight.

The losers were mostly the African teams: Cameroon (17th, down 6), Nigeria (36th, down 27), Egypt (42nd, down 23), Tunisia (45th, down 13) and Guinea (62nd, down 40) all slipped down the ranking. The lose out was due to their dismal performances in the CAF African Cup of Nations matched played in January 2006. However the rankings also saw several African teams improve their position over the past few weeks, with Ghana (22nd, up 6), Burkina Faso (57th, up 5) and 2010 FIFA World Cup™ hosts South Africa (59th, up 10) making notable gains.