Russia drops out of FIFA Top 10 rankings
Published: 16 October, 2009, 16:06
Edited: 17 October, 2009, 07:07
Russia's Roman Pavlyuchenko looks dejected after he misses to score against team Germany during their World Cup 2010 qualifying match on October 10, 2009 at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow (AFP Photo / Alexander Nemenov)
Russia has dropped six places in the newly announced FIFA World rankings, moving from sixth to twelfth position.
Guus Hiddink’s men held two World Cup qualifying matches in October, failing to achieve a win in any of them. They lost to Germany 1-0 and could only get a 1-1 draw in Azerbaijan.
Despite the poor results, Russia is seeded in the World Cup qualifying playoffs, which means they avoid facing Portugal, France and Greece.
The playoff draw is scheduled for Monday, October 19, with Slovenia, Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine being unseeded.
European champions Spain closed the gap on Brazil in the World Rankings, but they remain second, followed by the Netherlands.
World champions Italy overtook Germany for fourth position. Argentina's victories against Peru and Uruguay last week helped them climb two places to sixth, ahead of England.
And Croatia rose one place to eighth, despite being eliminated in the World Cup qualifiers.
FIFA World rankings:
1. Brazil
2. Spain
3. Netherlands
4. Italy
5. Germany
6. Argentina
7. England
8. Croatia
9. France
10. Portugal
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Since the Euro 2008 I've been living a love affair with the Russian National Team, whose qualification campaign I've been following with more attention than my own country's. I'm very sad that Russia fell to the 12th position, but let's admit: it's not that bad, after all! If they win the play-offs, they might get there again quite easily, considering that one unqualified team (Croatia) stands there and may be eager to give its spot to a victorious qualified one. Judging by the show they staged in Austria and Switzerland, Russians still have a lot to show.