England's miserable week took another turn for the worse on Friday with the publication of the FIFA world rankings.
Following their European Championship qualifying exit after defeat at home to Croatia on Wednesday, England are now ranked as Europe's 10th best side and will therefore almost certainly miss out on a top seeding for Sunday's 2010 World Cup
European champions Greece have climbed above England and are expected to join Italy, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Portugal, the Netherlands and Croatia in Sunday's pot of top seeds.
England will probably find themselves in the second pot alongside Romania, Scotland, Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia, Poland, Sweden and Israel.