CAIRO: Egypt moved to 24th place in the December 2009 edition of the monthly FIFA Ranking to finish the year on top of fellow Arab nations.
Despite not playing any matches since last month s defeat to Algeria, Egypt were the best movers within the top 50 teams, jumping five spots.
The African champions surpassed the Desert Foxes, who came 26th after moving two places up as well, reaching their best ever position.
Africa s other World Cup finalists Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Nigeria lied 11th, 16th and 22nd respectively, while Ghana came 10 places behind Egypt.
European champions Spain retained their position on top of the table, which witnessed no change in the top 10 teams.
