England drop a place in Fifa rankings

Arjen Robben curls in the winner (Getty Images)

England have fallen one place to seventh in the latest world rankings announced by Fifa this morning.

It returns the Three Lions to the place they occupied immediately after the 2010 World Cup and more recently, in October last year and is a result of Portugal's rise of two spots to fifth.

England are now the fifth-highest-ranked European nation, trailing leaders Spain by a massive 310 points.

Germany have moved up to second, with Holland, winners at Wembley in February, dropping back two spots to fourth.

Copa America winners Uruguay (third) are the only non-European team in the top five, with Brazil in sixth.

Of the other Home Nations, both Wales (41st) and Scotland (48th) have risen.

However, the fall of Northern Ireland continues, down seven to 100th spot, level with Antigua, a startling statistic for a country that competed at two World Cup finals tournaments in the 1980s.

The Republic of Ireland have joined Switzerland in joint 18th spot.

In a month where only 24 international matches were played worldwide, North Korea were the biggest risers, up 24 to 86th, with Georgia dropping 21 places to 95th.

PA