Soccer:The Republic of Ireland have climbed another rung in the latest Fifa world rankings ladder, joining Switzerland in joint 18th place. Despite not having played a game since the previous rankings were issued on March 7th, the mathematical intricacies of the rankings system has seen Ireland reach their highest spot since the summer of 2005.
Spain, Ireland’s Group C opponents at the Euro 2012 finals, remain top of the pile while Croatia (8th) and Italy (12th) are still ranked above Giovanni Trapattoni’s side, although the Italians have fallen outside of the top 10 losing three places in March.
Northern Ireland’s slide down the table continues, down seven to 100th spot, level with Antigua, a startling statistic for a country that competed at two World Cup finals tournament
Latest Fifa World Rankings
1. (1) Spain
2. (3) Germany
3. (4) Uruguay
4. (2) Netherlands
5. (7) Portugal
6. (5) Brazil
7. (6) England
8. (10) Croatia
9. (11) Denmark
10. (8) Argentina
Selected Others
18. (19) Republic of Ireland
41. (48) Wales
48. (51) Scotland
100. (93) Northern Ireland
