FIFA Rankings 2013: Spain Still On Top; Brazil Remains At 18

FIFA has announced its official rankings on Thursday and there are no surprises among the best teams as the top 10 list has remained intact.

At the top of the list is defending world champion Spain. The Spaniards finished in first place for the fifth straight year. The last time they were not the top team in the world, was in 2007 when Spain ranked 4^th in the world.

Germany remained second with Argentina, Italy, Colombia, England, Portugal, Netherlands, Russia, and Croatia rounding out the top 10 in that order. There was only one major change in the top 18; Ecuador rose one spot to 12^th place while Switzerland dropped to 13^th.

Brazil finally stopped their freefall and remained at number 18. 18^th place is the worst ranking that five-time World Champion Brazil has ever had in the FIFA rankings.

Since 2006, the team has steadily dropped down the table. After holding first place for five years since 2002, the team dropped to second in 2007.

In 2008, the 'Seleçao' fell to fifth before rising back to 2^nd in 2009. They dropped to 4^th in 2010, 6^th in 2011, and have now fallen to their current spot in 2012.

They are the fifth ranked CONMEBOL squad.

According to Samba Foot, the freefall of Brazil can be attributed to the fact that they are not playing any World Cup qualifiers and devoted their entire year to friendlies; FIFA ranks competitive matches like qualifiers much higher than friendlies. Brazil is not participating in qualifiers because the country is hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and has no need to partake in the qualification rounds. The team will be taking on England and Russia in upcoming friendlies; wins in friendlies against top ranked squads could have a bearing on the rankings.

The United States remained in 28th place on the rankings.