England

The newest release of the standings from the governing body of football show that Fabio Capello’s men have climbed from eighth to seventh – despite the fact they managed only one win and two draws at the World Cup.

Germany (5/1 to win Euro 2012 outright), who overcame England 4-1 in the second round in South Africa and finished in third place in the World Cup, are now ranked as the fourth best team, a rise of two places on their previous position.

Following their World Cup win, Spain (7/2 to win) have replaced Brazil at the top of the Fifa world rankings.

England could take some solace following their World Cup showing in that they have risen, whereas two other teams that disappointed in South Africa have plummeted down the Fifa rankings.

The former World Cup winners France and Italy (12/1 and 9/1 to win Euro 2012), who both failed to get out of the group stage, have slipped 12 and six places respectively in the standings to 21st and 11th.

England could class themselves lucky that their performances in South Africa did not result in them dropping down the list, especially as the latest release of the world rankings comes a day after a separate Fifa report showed it was officially the Three Lions’ worst World Cup performance in history.

Capello’s side were ranked 13th out of the 32 teams competing in South Africa, which beat their previous worst of 11th in 1958.

This ranking was also topped by Spain, with the top four positions mirroring the final tournament finishes so Holland, Germany and Uruguay took the next three slots.

England suffered the embarrassment of finishing behind the likes of Japan and Chile in the standings, and Fifa president Sepp Blatter stated he could not understand why the national team failed to perform in South Africa.

He said: “You will have to ask the Football Association.

“England is considered as being the motherland of football, as Brazil is the heartbeat of football, but there are no small national teams any more.

“There are small countries but their national teams are very strong as football has developed.”

One member of the England World Cup squad who thinks the situation is not all bad is Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe.

He scored against Slovenia in South Africa and has told Sky Sports that he thinks the current squad are good enough to still be competing at the 2014 World Cup and Capello remains “definitely the right man” for the England job.

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