U.S., Brazil move up in FIFA soccer rankings ahead of World Cup
Less than two weeks before its World Cup opener, the U.S. team got a little good news Thursday when it jumped one spot, to 13th, in the FIFA world rankings, the last poll that will be released before the tournament begins June 12.
That equals the highest world ranking for the U.S. since July 2009.
Spain and Germany remained 1-2 atop the table but there was a lot of shifting behind them with Brazil, the World Cup host, jumping to third over Portugal. Argentina and Switzerland each moved up two spots, to fifth and sixth respectively, while Uruguay fell one place to seventh and Colombia tumbled three places to eighth.
Italy remained ninth while England climbed one place to get into the top 10.
Mexico dropped a spot to 20th.
Ghana, the first World Cup opponent for the U.S., rose one spot in the rankings to 37th.
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