ZURICH — Spain regained first place from Brazil in the FIFA rankings on Friday, while the United States dropped three places to 14th.
The European champions regained the top spot they lost to the South Americans in July after exhibition wins over fellow World Cup qualifier Argentina and Austria.
Brazil beat England 1-0 and Oman 2-0 this week but was overtaken because older ranking points lost value, and its wins came against lower-ranked opposition.
The Netherlands and Italy stayed third and fourth, while the biggest mover in the top 10 was Portugal, which rose five places to fifth by twice beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa. Portugal benefited in the rankings because it played more World Cup qualifying matches.
Germany slipped a place to sixth and France rose two to seventh after Thierry Henry’s hand ball set up the goal that sent his country to the World Cup ahead of Ireland, which dropped two places to No. 36.
Argentina, England and Croatia rounded out the top 10, with Cameroon the top-ranked African nation at No. 11.
Australia was the highest-ranked team from the Asian confederation at No. 21.
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