Brazil reclaimed the top spot from Spain in the FIFA rankings, while the United States moved up two places to 14th.
Brazil returned to No. 1 on Wednesday for the seventh stretch since the ranking began in 1993, ending the five-month reign of the European champions. Brazil has held the top spot for 143 months total.
World Cup semifinalist Portugal moved into third, swapping places with the Netherlands, and defending World Cup champion Italy rounded out the top five.
Germany was sixth and Argentina rose two places to seventh, followed by England, Croatia and France, which dropped two spots to 10th. Russia was 11th, with Greece, Egypt, the U.S. and Chile followed by Serbia, Mexico, Uruguay, Cameroon, and Nigeria and Australia in a tie for 20th.
At 14th, the United States matched its ranking from November to February, which was down from 11th in September and October. The Americans were as high as fourth in April 2006.
Only new five matches counted toward the April rankings, meaning most of the changes were due to the devaluation of past results.
At the World Cup, the U.S. opens June 12 against England, then plays 23rd-ranked Slovenia on June 18 and 31st-ranked Algeria on June 23. Before leaving for the tournament in South Africa, the Americans have exhibitions against the 29th-ranked Czech Republic (May 25 at East Hartford, Conn.) and 33rd-ranked Turkey (May 29 at Philadelphia). They also have an exhibition against Australia on June 5 at Roodepoort, South Africa.
