You cant beat the real thing

So the 'sugar free' FIFA\Coca-Cola rankings have been released again, and since they have reworked the scoring system, I for one, cant really argue with the current top 10.

As of 13 Sep 2006:

1 Brazil
2 France
3 Argentina
4 England
5 Italy
6 Netherlands
7 Czech Republic
8 Germany
9 Portugal
10 Spain

OK, maybe England may appear a little high and Germany a little low, but overall the top ten teams are the BEST ten teams in the world, in my opinion.

Debate over the final order will always reign, and to say 'Italy are the World Champions so they should be top' would be a little niave and simplistic in my book.

Previous FIFA rankings have been the height of controversy mainly due to the continued Top Ten appearances of Mexico and USA - both were in the Top FIVE at one point.

Then one day, Sepp Blatter and his wife, Fanny, "woke up" and realised that beating the likes of El Salvador and Haiti isnt really a great yardstick for calculating how good a team really is.

In this 'New Improved' recipe, both Mexico and USA are out of the Top Ten. In fact, the US are out of the Top Twenty and are now ranked 29th. Mexico's fall from grace wasnt as severe, sitting in a respectable 17th.

For the record, Scotland have climbed 6 places this month to 34, Wales slide 6 to 62, the Republic of Ireland fall 5 places to 43 and thanks to their Spanish victory, Northern Ireland climb a massive 14 places to 58.

For the complete list, click here