Scotland rose in the rankings despite not playing since October

Former Scotland boss Walter Smith transformed the side's fortunes, seeing them rise from 88th two years ago and 62nd a year ago.

England remain sixth, with Northern Ireland in 47th place and the Republic of Ireland 51st. Wales are 77th.

Argentina took over at the top of the rankings from world champions Italy, who fell to second, with Brazil third, France fourth and Germany fifth.

Scotland rose in the rankings despite not playing since October.

Points gained over the course of a year are included in full.

However, results from any preceding 12 months count only for 50%, with that figure decreasing to 30% for a third year and then 20% for a fourth year.

Scotland boss Alex McLeish has announced his 26-man squad for group leaders Scotland's next Euro 2008 qualifiers against Georgia and world champions Italy.

Fifa world rankings:
1 Argentina
2 Italy
3 Brazil
4 France
5 Germany
6 England
7 Holland
8 Portugal
9 Czech Republic
10 Spain

Selected others:
16 Scotland
47 Northern Ireland
51 Republic Ireland
77 Wales