Fabio Capello's England are currently second in Uefa's rankings

England's European ranking is set to fall after Uefa approved changes to how national coefficients are determined.

Rankings are currently based on qualifying matches only, but future performances in European Championships and World Cups will now be included.

That means England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 could see them drop from second to sixth.

"The new system reflects better the real strength of each national team," Uefa said in a statement.

"It now takes into account national 'A' team matches played in Uefa Euro and the Fifa World Cup qualifying competitions and final tournaments.

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"The improved system is an important tool for ensuring sporting balance and fairness in both the qualifying phase and the final round of the Uefa European Football Championship."

The changes come after criticism by France manager Raymond Domenech, who complained about the World Cup finalists being among the bottom seeds for this summer's Euro's in Austria and Switzerland.

That led to them being drawn in the same group as Italy, Holland and Romania, which has been labelled as the 'Group of Death'.

England will slip down the table if Italy, France, Germany or Portugal reach the quarter-finals and any change will affect England's seeding for the qualifying competition for the 2012 European Championships.