England move up to eighth as Egypt drop out of top 10
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Your support makes all the difference.Egypt's presence in the top 10 of Fifa's world rankings proved short-lived as the Africa Cup of Nations winners dropped from 10th to 17th in the latest edition published before they took on England in last night's friendly match at Wembley.
Egypt had jumped 14 places last month on the back of their third successive Cup of Nations triumph but, due to the vagaries of the ranking system where year-old results drop out of the reckoning, they have now plummeted down the rankings.
England moved up one place to eighth. With few games played over the last month there is little change at the top where Spain, Brazil, the Netherlands and Italy remain the top four, though Germany climbed one spot to fifth. Greece jumped two places from 12th as they returned to the top 10 for the first time since June 2008.
Meanwhile Spain captain Iker Casillas insists his side will be "humble" and "prudent" heading into this summer's World Cup despite being one of the favourites for the tournament.
Spain went into last night's friendly with France in Paris having enjoyed a phenomenal run over the past few years, being triumphant in 41 of their last 44 matches while only losing once.
During that time they also won Euro 2008 – their first major trophy in 44 years – and took over at the top of the Fifa world rankings.
"We know the potential that we have, the players that we have, but we are also humble ahead of this new event where we will try to put on a good performance and make the fans feel proud of their national team," Casillas said. "We will go there full of hope but also full of prudence. The team is seasoned, experienced, what we have to try and do is to translate the success of these last few years into good results at the World Cup."
Casillas was set to make his 102nd appearance for Spain against France last night, which would see him draw level with Real Madrid club-mate Raul. The only person with more Spain caps is former goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta, who won 126.
Fifa World Rankings: Top 10
1. (1) Spain
2. (2) Brazil
3. (3) Netherlands
4. (4) Italy
5. (6) Germany
6. (5) Portugal
7. (7) France
8. (9) England
9. (8) Argentina
10. (12) Greece
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