Posted at 7:45 a.m., Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Soccer: Italy No. 1 in men's rankings; U.S. 18th
Associated Press
ZURICH, Switzerland — World Cup champion Italy returned to No. 1 in soccer's world rankings today, Brazil dropped from the top spot to No. 3 and the United States fell one place to 18th.Italy climbed two places after its 2-1 win over Ukraine and 0-0 tie with France this month in qualifying for next year's European Championship.
Italy has 1,488 points, followed by Argentina (1,451) and Brazil (1,444). Germany moved up one spot to fourth and the Netherlands gained two places to fifth.
France slipped two places to No. 6 after its 1-0 loss to Scotland in European qualifying. Spain, Portugal, England and Croatia rounded out the top 10, and Mexico fell two places to 13th, behind the Czech Republic and Romania. Scotland jumped from No. 23 to No. 14, equaling its best position since the FIFA world rankings were introduced in 1993.
