Zurich, November 12:

European champion Spain continued their reign as world’s top-ranked national team in the latest FIFA rankings published today.

Germany climbed one place to second, while England returned to the world’s top 10. Italy dropped a place to third and the Netherlands rose one to fourth. Brazil remained the best South American nation despite falling to fifth while Argentina moved up a place to sixth.

Russia climbed again and are now eighth, their best ranking since 1997. England moved up four places to share 10th place with Portugal. Coach Fabio Capello’s team fell out of the top 10 in July after missing the Euro finals.

Cameroon are the leader among African nations in 14th, down two places; Israel are up one to a best-ever 15th. Paraguay leapt up five places to 17th.

The United States are the top CONCACAF nation, one above rival Mexico, despite dropping three places at 24th. Australia lead the Asian confederation at No37, one ahead of Japan.

Among the big improvers in the new rankings were Euro 2008 co-host Switzerland, who was up 18 places to 27th, while Serbia (30), Ecuador (31) and Slovakia (45) also had double-digit rises. Jamaica jumped 33 places to 86th after wins in World Cup qualifiers against Mexico and Honduras.

Highest-ever positions were achieved by the relatively new national team of Montenegro, now 115th, and 157th-ranked Philippines. A total of 134 matches counted toward the rankings. The next standings will published on December 17. Meanwhile, Nepal slipped two places down to 177th position .