Italy inches ahead of Germany again

AN AFRICAN WAVE BELOW THE BRIM

In the second FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking this year, world runners-up Italy have managed to squeeze in ahead of Germany whereas Spain and Russia have clung to their perches. The Brazilian world champions continue to reign supreme. France (7th, up 6) at last seem to have settled in among the top ten.

Some reshuffling took place lower down the ladder as a result of the African Cup of Nations. South Africa, the unstoppable, are still soaring skywards (23rd, up 6), while Zambia (15th, up 8), Ghana (16th, up 3) and the losing finalist, Tunisia (25th, up 6), continue to produce positive results. Morocco's progress (26th, up 7) after some convincing friendlies is also noteworthy.

An upward spiral can be detected in associations from other continents: Chile (33rd, up 6), Bolivia (40th, up 16), Iceland (45th, up 53) and Slovenia (61st, up 9) were all busy and blossoming last month.

The delayed reports of several matches and the start of the qualifying competition for the Asian Cup helped a number of Asian teams to leapfrog into action: Saudi Arabia (35th, up 8) and especially China PR (50th, up 16), Hong Kong (90th, up 20), India (94th, up 30), Myanmar (100th, up 16), Bangladesh (111th, up 28) and Macao (163rd, up 17) all bounced high.

Representation among the top fifty slots remains virtually unchanged for the confederations: UEFA 27 (1 less), Africa 11, CONMEBOL 6 (1 more), CONCACAF 3, Asia 3. In the index valuation, which takes account of the teams' current strength as well as the gain in points, South Africa are at present at the top with a healthy lead over Saudi Arabia.

- The next edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will appear on 24 April 1996.

RANKING AS OF 21 FEBRUARY 1996
RANK TEAM POINTS
FEB. '96		 RANK
END OF '95		 CHANGE
JAN. '96 - FEB. '96
1 Brazil 69.08 1 0
2 Italy 61.52 3 +1
3 Germany 61.35 2 -1
4 Spain 60.08 4 0
5 Russia 59.89 5 0
6 Netherlands 57.52 6 0
7 France 56.57 8 +6
8 Argentina 55.47 7 -1
9 Denmark 55.02 9 +1
10 Mexico 54.38 12 -2
11 Romania 54.25 11 0
12 Sweden 53.77 13 0
13 Czech Republic 53.47 14 +1
14 USA 53.38 19 +1
15 Zambia 53.16 25 +8
16 Ghana 52.63 29 +3
17 Bulgaria 52.39 17 +1

Norway 52.39 10 -8
19 Colombia 51.72 15 -2
20 Portugal 51.33 16 -4
RANK TEAM POINTS
FEB. '96		 RANK
END OF '95		 CHANGE
JAN. '96 - FEB. '96
21 Switzerland 51.00 18 -1
22 Egypt 50.91 23 0
23 South Africa 50.74 40 +6
24 Cote d'Ivoire 50.34 20 -3
25 Tunisia 49.95 22 +6
26 Morocco 48.25 38 +7
27 England 48.22 21 -3
28 Belgium 47.68 24 -3
29 Scotland 47.32 26 -3
30 Japan 46.70 31 0
31 Turkey 46.69 30 -3
32 Ireland Republic 46.04 28 -5
33 Chile 45.48 36 +6
34 Cameroon 45.32 37 -2
35 Saudi Arabia 45.25 54 +8
36 Uruguay 44.36 32 -2
37 Poland 43.66 33 -2
38 Slovakia 43.34 35 -2
39 Nigeria 42.52 27 -1
40 Bolivia 41.87 53 +16
RANK TEAM POINTS
FEB. '96		 RANK
END OF '95		 CHANGE
JAN. '96 - FEB. '96
41 Greece 41.59 34 -4
42 Austria 40.81 39 -2
43 Croatia 40.26 41 -2
44 Algeria 39.97 48 0
45 Iceland 39.24 50 +8
46 Israel 39.00 42 -4
47 Gabon 38.99 67 -2
48 Lithuania 38.70 43 -1
49 Trinidad & Tobago 38.61 57 -3
50 China PR 38.32 66 +16
51 Northern Ireland 38.29 45 -3
52 Australia 38.25 51 +2
53 Sierra Leone 37.88 58 -2
54 Ecuador 37.81 55 +3
55 Senegal 37.70 47 -3
56 Finland 37.31 44 -6
57 Honduras 37.26 49 -2
58 Jamaica 36.28 56 0
59 Mali 36.01 52 0
60 Latvia 35.33 60 0
RANK TEAM POINTS
FEB. '96		 RANK
END OF '95		 CHANGE
JAN. '96 - FEB. '96
61 Slovenia 35.22 71 +9
62 Korea Republic 34.64 46 -13
63 Canada 34.57 65 -2
64 Zimbabwe 33.76 59 -2
65 Wales 33.42 61 -2
66 Hungary 33.35 62 -2
67 Zaire 33.34 68 +4
68 Paraguay 32.21 64 -3
69 Thailand 31.85 77 3
70 Peru 30.76 69 -3
71 Mozambique 30.36 76 -3
72 Ukraine 30.21 71 -3
73 El Salvador 29.75 82 0
74 Guinea 29.69 63 0
75 Tanzania 29.08 70 +1
76 Uganda 28.64 74 +1
77 Angola 27.97 80 +5
78 Cyprus 27.78 73 -3
79 Georgia 26.92 79 0
80 Costa Rica 26.56 78 0
RANK TEAM POINTS
FEB. '96		 RANK
END OF '95		 CHANGE
JAN. '96 - FEB. '96
81 United Arab Emirates 26.55 75 -3
82 Liberia 24.82 87 +1
83 Yugoslavia 24.60 81 -2
84 Belarus 24.25 88 +2
85 Qatar 24.01 83 -1
86 Kuwait 23.81 84 -1
87 Mauritania 23.20 85 0
88 Malta 22.93 90 +1
89 Sudan 22.71 86 -1
90 Hong Kong 21.73 111 +20
91 Albania 21.69 91 -1
92 Macedonia 21.49 94 -1
93 St. Vincent / Grenadines 21.16 95 -1
94 India 21.13 121 +30
95 Cuba 21.08 96 -2
96 Singapore 20.32 104 0
97 Uzbekistan 20.26 97 -2
98 Niger 20.17 93 -4
99 Luxemburg 19.99 100 0
100 Myanmar 19.96 115 +16
RANK TEAM POINTS
FEB. '96		 RANK
END OF '95		 CHANGE
JAN. '96 - FEB. '96
101 Oman 19.87 98 -4
102 Bahrain 19.76 99 -4
103 Kenya 19.40 107 -3
104 Togo 19.00 92 -3
105 Lebanon 18.98 134 +8
106 Burkina Faso 18.95 101 -1
107 New Zealand 18.81 102 -5
108 Malawi 18.51 89 -5
109 Barbados 18.45 103 -5
110 Ethiopia 18.06 105 -4
111 Bangladesh 17.70 138 +28
112 Malaysia 17.54 106 -5
113 Moldova 17.11 109 -5
114 Iraq 16.77 110 -5
115 Iran 16.37 108 -4
116 Venezuela 16.16 127 -4
117 Armenia 15.95 113 -3
118 St. Lucia 15.77 114 -3
119 Vietnam 15.43 122 -2
120 Gambia 15.13 112 -2
RANK TEAM POINTS
FEB. '96		 RANK
END OF '95		 CHANGE
JAN. '96 - FEB. '96
121 Namibia 15.07 116 -2
122 Guinea-Bissau 15.01 118 -2
123 Yemen 14.95 123 +2
124 Korea DPR 14.64 117 -3
125 Faroe Islands 14.57 120 -3
126 Guatemala 14.52 145 -3
127 Neth. Antilles 12.43 125 -1
128 Panama 12.30 126 0
129 Congo 12.17 119 0
130 Surinam 12.15 124 -3
131 Puerto Rico 11.58 128 -1
132 Sri Lanka 11.53 135 +3
133 Indonesia 11.41 130 -1
134 Cayman 11.29 131 -1
135 Estonia 11.19 129 -4
136 Turkmenistan 10.96 133 -2
137 Madagascar 10.67 132 -1
138 Antigua 10.48 137 -1
139 Nepal 10.03 147 +9
RANK TEAM POINTS
FEB. '96		 RANK
END OF '95		 CHANGE
JAN. '96 - FEB. '96
140 Syria 9.81 136 -2
141 Azerbaijan 9.07 141 0
142 Grenada 9.05 141 0
143 Fiji 9.00 139 -3
144 St. Kitts & Nevis 8.97 150 -1
145 Cape Verde Islands 8.80 144 0
146 Bermuda 8.61 140 -2
147 Jordan 8.56 143 -1
148 Burundi 7.99 146 -1
149 Swaziland 7.52 148 0
150 Lesotho 7.43 149 0
151 Laos 7.24 152 0
152 SanMarino 7.13 151 0
153 Haiti 6.89 153 0
154 Mauritius 6.06 154 0
155 Tahiti 5.80 156 0
156 Liechtenstein 5.74 157 0
157 Botswana 5.69 155 0
158 Dominica 5.51 158 0
159 Dominican Republic 5.19 159 0
160 Kyrgyzstan 4.74 172 +12
RANK TEAM POINTS
FEB. '96		 RANK
END OF '95		 CHANGE
JAN. '96 - FEB. '96
161 Pakistan 4.56 160 -1
162 Benin 4.20 161 -1
163 Macao 3.66 180 +17
164 Kazakhstan 3.56 163 -2
165 Guyana 2.87 162 -2
166 Tajikistan 2.61 164 -2
167 Maldives Republic 2.44 169 +2
168 Somalia 2.34 165 -3
169 Philippines 2.19 166 -3
170 Brunei 1.83 167 -3
171 Rwanda 1.81 168 -3
172 Solomon Islands 1.14 170 -2
173 Aruba 1.00 171 -2
174 Belize 0.67 173 -1
175 Nicaragua 0.53 174 -1
176 Libya 0.50 175 -1
177 Seychelles 0.45 176 -1
178 Djibouti 0.33 177 -1
179 Chinese Taipei 0.11 178 -1
180 Vanuatu 0.03 179 -1
181 Chad 0.00 180 -1

Cambodia 0.00 180 -1

Note: Teams inactive since 1990 and teams which have not played yet do not appear in the table.

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