RIO DE JANEIRO, April 12 – Five time World Cup winner, Brazil, slumped to a record low 19th in the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) world rankings on Thursday, their worst position since the system was adopted in 1993, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.
The 2014 World Cup hosts are yet to win a full international match following the appointment of coach Luiz Felipe Scolari last November. Since then Brazil has lost to England and drawn with Italy and Russia. A 4-0 victory over Bolivia last week week did not earn points due to the fact the match was not played on an official FIFA date.
Scolari’s men have also suffered from not having to play World Cup qualifiers, with friendlies carrying less weight in the points system. Brazil are only the fifth best South American side, behind Argentina (3rd), Colombia (6th), Ecuador (10th) and Uruguay (17th). Spain heads the list, followed by Germany, Argentina, Croatia and Portugal.
Twelfth-ranked Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) is Africa’s top side while Mexico (14th) is the best team in the Concacaf region, which represents North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Japan is Asia’s top team at 29th.
BERNAMA
