Brazil rises to No. 2 and USA tumbles four spots in new FIFA ranking

Published Dec. 9, 2016 1:06 p.m. ET

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Brazil rose to No. 2 overall in FIFA’s latest world rankings released on Thursday as the USA fell four spots to No. 28.

Brazil leapfrogged Germany to move into the second overall spot behind Argentina, who hold onto their top spot, despite a shutout loss to Brazil in World Cup qualifying earlier this month.

The Americans took a bit of a tumble after a poor start to the Hex round of World Cup qualifying with losses to Mexico and Costa Rica. The USA fell four spots to No. 28, getting passed up by Bosnia & Herzegovina (27) and the Republic of Ireland (23) along the way.

The Republic of Ireland was one of the biggest movers in the top 50, jumping 10 spots. The biggest mover, however, was Burkina Faso, jumping 17 spots to No. 50.

CONCACAF’s two highest ranked teams are Costa Rica and Mexico, who sit next to each other in the No. 17 and No. 18 spots respectively. Iran tops Asia at No. 30 and Senegal is Africa's top-ranked team at No. 33.

The new top ten list is as follows:
1. Argentina
2. Brazil
3. Germany
4. Chile
5. Belgium
6. Colombia
7. France
8. Portugal
9. Uruguay
10. Spain

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