England hit all-time high, South Sudan debut

While the eyes of the sporting world are fixed on the Olympic Football Tournaments in London, the latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking reveals that there is a newcomer to the fold. South Sudan, who became FIFA’s 209th member at the 2012 Congress in Budapest, played their first official international in their capital city of Juba on 10 July. Their much-heralded 2-2 draw with Uganda was worth 20 ranking points and sees the Southern Sudanese make their debut in 199th place. At the global ladder’s summit, world and European champions Spain are still comfortable out in front, followed by Germany and England. The Three Lions have overtaken Uruguay, who are now in fourth place having lost points due to the devaluation of matches from last year’s Copa America. In addition to England, a further six teams are currently in their best-ever ranking positions: Ecuador (20th, up 7), Libya (38th, up 1), Central African Republic (71st, up 2), Dominican Republic (118th, up 12), Aruba (157th, up 7) and American Samoa (182nd, up 1). The results of 12 matches have been taken into account for the current edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. More movement can be expected in the September edition, with the inclusion of the many friendlies due to be played on 15 August. FIFA