World champions Italy leapfrogged Germany into second place behind European champions Spain in the latest FIFA rankings issued Wednesday.
The rest of the top ten stayed the same apart from Turkey rising to 10th in place of Russia which fell to 12th.
Brazil stayed 6th, its worst placing since 1993, and Argentina 7th.
France remained out of the top ten, in 11th spot.
The standings are set for a shake-up after upcoming World Cup 2010 matches.
Here is the top ten (previous slots in brackets).
1) Spain 1,565 points (1)
2) Italy 1,339 (3)
3) Germany 1,329 (2)
4) Netherlands 1,295 (4)
5) Croatia 1,266 (5)
6) Brazil 1,252 (6)
7) Argentina 1,230 (7)
8) Czech Republic 1,134 (8)
9) Portugal 1,120 (9)
10) Turkey 1,033 (13)
