ZURICH: Egypt dropped two spots in the latest FIFA rankings after Russia surged 15 spots to number 10, edging the African Champion into 11th place.
World Cup-winner Spain still reigned the FIFA rankings published on Wednesday, and Croatia returned to the top 10 using a victory in 2012 European Championship qualifiers.
Russia’s Euro 2012 wins over Ireland and Macedonia lifted it 15 spots.
France bounced back into the top 20, rising seven places to No. 18, after sinking to a historic low last month.
The United States dropped seven to No. 25 having played only friendlies since the World Cup, while European and African teams gathered ranking points from higher-value continental qualifiers.
Spain won both of its Euro 2012 matches this month and continues to lead the Netherlands, which also had a pair of victories, in second.
Brazil rose to No. 3 in a swap with fourth-ranked Germany. Argentina was fifth, followed by England, Uruguay, Portugal and Croatia.
Slovenia was at a best-ever No. 15, ahead of Italy which fell three places.
International football’s newest member, Montenegro, continued its recent surge to No. 26 following a victory over Switzerland and a draw away to England.
Australia heads the Asian countries at No. 21, and New Zealand leads Oceania at No. 51.
Victories in 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifiers fired Guinea and Niger up the standings.
Guinea was No. 47, up 34 places after a 1-0 upset win against Nigeria, and Niger was rewarded for shocking Egypt 1-0 with a rise of 54 spots to No. 100.
The Central African Republic was bottom of the rankings after a three-year absence from play, but improved to 112th of 207 football nations after beating World Cup team Algeria 2-0.
