India 117th in FIFA rankings

India held on to 117th place in the latest FIFA world rankings, the last before the World Cup kicks-off in Germany on June 9.

The Indian team, which will have a new coach by the end of this month following Syed Nayeemuddin's ouster in March, has 378 points and is placed just behind Hong Kong and above New Zealand.

Sri Lanka is the next highest ranked South Asian team at number 136th, a drop of one notch. Bangladesh climbed one spot to 140 while Pakistan is 153rd.

Defending champions Brazil go into next month's mega event as the number one team in the world with 827 points, way ahead of second-placed Czech Republic (772) and No. 3 The Netherlands (768).

Mexico climbed two spots to number four while the United States fell one place to fifth, sharing the position with Spain, who climbed a rung.

Portugal is seventh, a gain of a notch, while France and Argentina dropped one place each to be placed eighth and ninth respectively.

England is ranked 10th.

Japan is the highest raked Asian side at 18th, a loss of one place. Iran has also dropped a notch to number 23. South Korea gained one place to number 29 while Saudi Arabia held on to 34th place.

Australia, who qualified for the World Cup after a gap of 32 years, gained two places to number 42.

Interestingly, several high ranked teams have failed to make it to Germany for the football extravaganza.

Nigeria (11th) and Denmark (12th) have missed out, and so has Turkey (14th), who made it all the way to the semi-finals in Japan and South Korea four years ago. Cameroon (15th), Egypt (17th) and European champions Greece (20th) will also not be among the game's elite in Germany.

In stark contrast, Angola (57th), Togo (61st), Ghana (48th) and Trinidad and Tobago (47th) will be there, proving that rankings can be very deceptive in modern football.