Posted September 13, 200618 yr England fourth in Fifa rankings BBC Sport England have equalled their all-time high of fourth place in the Fifa rankings, underlining Steve McClaren's successful start as England boss. Post-World Cup victories over Greece, Andorra and Macedonia have led to England leapfrogging world champions Italy, who have slipped to fifth. McClaren said: "There is still a long way to go. You have done nothing until you win something." England were last ranked fourth under Glenn Hoddle in December 1997. Meanwhile, Scotland's promising start to their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign has led to a jump of six places to 34th, while Northern Ireland have moved up 14 places to 58th after their impressive win over Spain. Northern Ireland managed to overtake Wales, who have slipped six places to 62nd and the Republic of Ireland are down five to share 43rd place with Iran. At the top end of the table, France moved up two places to second - behind long-time leaders Brazil, with Argentina still in third. But McClaren's England have been able to take advantage of Italy's poor form after winning the World Cup to claim the next place. Holland, Czech Republic, Germany, Portugal and Spain make up the top 10. The rankings act as a strong endorsement for McClaren, who took over as England boss from Sven Goran Eriksson after the World Cup finals in Germany this summer. But the former Middlesbrough manager has been quick to play down England's disappointing quarter-final exit, labelling fans' expectations as unrealistic. "People said we should have done better but, for me, the expectation was too high and we have to get some realism into it," said McClaren, who has claimed three straight wins as England manager. "The realism is we have got a lot to prove and have got a lot of improving to do. We know we can do better. "So far in each game there have been things we weren't pleased about. We won't become a better team or win anything unless we improve on these things." Despite Italy's slip to fifth in the rankings, McClaren was full of praise for Marcello Lippi, who stood down as coach of the Italian national side three days after leading them to World Cup glory in July. He and Lippi are among 72 national coaches in Berlin for a Fifa conference looking back at the World Cup - and the England manager was impressed by the World Cup-winning Italian's presentation. McClaren said: "Players win tournaments but coaches affect games by tactics and substitutions and Lippi proved to be a master of that. "In his presentation, he stressed the team ethic and said it was important that France or Italy were both nations who had a point to prove. "He said the adversity, the (match-fixing) scandal in Italy, had brought the players closer together and that they were stronger as a unit for that, plus the flexibility and adaptability of his players." England play Macedonia at Old Trafford on 7 October and then face an intimidating trip to Croatia, one of the stronger teams in Group E. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Latest Fifa rankings: 1. Brazil 2. France 3. Argentina 4. England 5. Italy 6. Holland 7. Czech Republic 8. Germany 9. Portugal 10. Spain Selected others: 34. Scotland 43. Republic of Ireland (shared with Iran) 58. Northern Ireland 62. Wales The next rankings will be published on 18 October 2006
September 13, 200618 yr I've no idea how we're ahead of Italy :| Unless they see a 1-1 draw with Lithuania as important as winning the world cup...
September 13, 200618 yr i'd take the rankings with a pinch of salt :lol: it wasn't that long ago since the USA were 4th :blink:
September 13, 200618 yr England might be 4th but beating Andorra and Macedonia is hardly good! they only beat Macedonia 1 - 0
September 13, 200618 yr Well these rankings just go to show, what bull$h!t the FIFA rankings are. -_- We performed pretty c**p at the world cup and we've had three straight wins after it but were 4th. :o As much as i'd like England to be that high I really don't think we deserve it at the moment and Italy should be ahead of us and Spain shouldn't be in the top 10.
September 13, 200618 yr WALOB Jeez even a mid table championship team would beat the likes of Macedonia and Andorra and Jamaica
September 13, 200618 yr WALOB Jeez even a mid table championship team would beat the likes of Macedonia and Andorra and Jamaica I wouldn't go that far, maybe a team like Birmingham could though. ;)
September 13, 200618 yr You can't rank them until they play the big games Anybody can beat Andorra Their players prolly only play part-time :rolleyes:
September 14, 200618 yr People are seriously underestimating Macedonia. They're actually a damn good side and to just beat them 1-0 was actually a pretty good result. I'm fairly sure that they could qualify second in our group, but they aren't consistant enough! In qualification for the World Cup they managed to hold Holland to a draw both home AND away but then they also lost and drew with Andorra. Holland won the other 10 matches of qualification, against Czech Republic, Finland, Romania, Armenia and Andorra so they are obviously pretty useful, just not consistant enough! Edited September 14, 200618 yr by RabbitFurCoat
September 14, 200618 yr People are seriously underestimating Macedonia. They're actually a damn good side and to just beat them 1-0 was actually a pretty good result. I'm fairly sure that they could qualify second in our group, but they aren't consistant enough! In qualification for the World Cup they managed to hold Holland to a draw both home AND away but then they also lost and drew with Andorra. Ditto. There an extremley hard team to beat at home on there day and we were pretty lucky to beat them in all honesty.
September 14, 200618 yr The Macedonian side isn't bad, but I think they'll only manage fourth or fifth in our group. I'd say England or Croatia to finish first, Russia third, then Macedonia or Estonia then Israel, then Andorra.
September 14, 200618 yr Israel will easily finish ahead of Estonia! They're also a good side. Were unbeaten in World Cup qualification!
September 14, 200618 yr Israel will easily finish ahead of Estonia! They're also a good side. Were unbeaten in World Cup qualification! Were they? :o
September 14, 200618 yr MP W D L GF GA Pts France 10 5 5 0 14 2 20 Switzerland 10 4 6 0 18 7 18 Israel 10 4 6 0 15 10 18 Republic of Ireland 10 4 5 1 12 5 17 Cyprus 10 1 1 8 8 20 4 Faroe Islands 10 0 1 9 4 27 1 The top 4 all beat Cyprus and Faroes both home and away. All games between them were draws apart from one where France beat Ireland.
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