Wed Jun 4 13:21:13 2008

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Argentina extends lead over Brazil

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Nyon, Switzerland (Sports Network) - The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Rankings for the month of June were released on Wednesday, and although the top eight teams remained the same, leaders Argentina opened up a 46-point lead on second-place Brazil.

The two South American nations were separated by only two points in last month's rankings, but Argentina now has given itself a bit of a cushion ahead of World Cup qualifying matches this summer.

The next 10 spots are occupied by European teams, with nine of those countries taking part in June's Euro 2008 competition.

Italy sits in third place, followed by Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, France and Greece. England is the lone nation in the top 12 not involved in the tournament, but they still moved back into the top 10 by jumping two places to ninth. The Netherlands remains in 10th place, while Portugal was bumped back two spots to 11th and Romania holds at 12th.

World Cup qualifying for 2010 has already gotten underway in Asia and Africa, and Australia (35th, up 8) has taken advantage of some good results to overtake Japan (38th, down 1) as the top Asian side.

A pair of African nations has also made the most of its opportunities with both Cameroon (13th, up 3) and Egypt (23rd, up 7) making strong climbs.

Mexico (14th, up 3) remains the top team in CONCACAF, while the United States remains 21st, but will have games with both Spain and Argentina this month.

Other teams that enjoyed a jump in the rankings are Turkey (20th, up 5), Nigeria (34th, up 5), Switzerland (44th, up 4) and Korea Republic (45th, up 5), while Sweden (30th, down 7), Serbia (39th, down 8) and Chile (47th, down 6) each took steps back.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on July 2, 2008.