Newly crowned European champions Spain have climbed to the top of latest world rankings published by world soccer's governing body FIFA on Wednesday.
It is the first time since the introduction of the rankings in 1992 that Spain, who were rated fourth last month, have been listed as the world's best team.
The ranking system is based on international results over the past four years with more points awarded for wins in major tournaments.
Germany, losers of Sunday's Euro 2008 final, climbed two places to third position behind Italy, who rose one spot despite going out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage.
A look at the top 50 teams:
| Ranking | Team | Points |
| 1 | Spain | 1557 |
| 2 | Italy | 1404 |
| 3 | Germany | 1364 |
| 4 | Brazil | 1344 |
| 5 | Netherlands | 1299 |
| 6 | Argentina | 1298 |
| 7 | Croatia | 1282 |
| 8 | Czech Republic | 1146 |
| 9 | Portugal | 1104 |
| 10 | France | 1053 |
| 11 | Russia | 1023 |
| 12 | Romania | 1021 |
| 13 | Cameroon | 1011 |
| 14 | Turkey | 1010 |
| 15 | England | 1003 |
| 16 | Scotland | 988 |
| 17 | Bulgaria | 930 |
| 18 | Greece | 911 |
| 19 | Mexico | 906 |
| 20 | Ghana | 885 |
| 21 | Israel | 876 |
| 22 | Uruguay | 870 |
| 23 | Colombia | 869 |
| 24 | Egypt | 842 |
| 25 | Paraguay | 832 |
| 26 | Sweden | 801 |
| 26 | Nigeria | 801 |
| 28 | Côte d'Ivoire | 790 |
| 29 | Ukraine | 786 |
| 30 | USA | 780 |
| 31 | Norway | 778 |
| 32 | Poland | 773 |
| 33 | Northern Ireland | 750 |
| 34 | Japan | 745 |
| 35 | Serbia | 740 |
| 36 | Denmark | 722 |
| 37 | Morocco | 689 |
| 37 | Iran | 689 |
| 39 | Guinea | 670 |
| 40 | Australia | 668 |
| 41 | Republic of Ireland | 666 |
| 42 | Senegal | 658 |
| 43 | Chile | 654 |
| 44 | Finland | 653 |
| 45 | Switzerland | 645 |
| 46 | Belgium | 637 |
| 47 | Tunisia | 629 |
| 48 | Honduras | 624 |
| 49 | Saudi Arabia | 623 |
| 50 | Moldova | 622 |
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