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Page last updated at 12:40 GMT, Wednesday, 15 September 2010 13:40 UK

Scotland fall six ranking places

Scotland's Alan Hutton holds off Edgaras Cesnauskis of Lithuania
Scotland and Lithuania drew 0-0 in their Group I opener in Kaunas

Scotland's have dropped six places to 47th in the latest world football rankings despite a draw and a win in their opening Euro 2012 group games.

And Group I rivals Lithuania, thanks to a win in the Czech Republic, have moved five places above Craig Levein's side.

The Scots started their qualifying campaign with a 0-0 draw in Lithuania before beating Liechtenstein 2-1.

Group favourites Spain, whose visit to Hampden on 12 October is already a sell-out, remain top of the rankings.

Netherlands, beaten in the World Cup final by the Spanish, remain in second spot in Fifa's list, with Germany moving ahead of Brazil into third.

England are up one place to sixth, with the Republic of Ireland rising three places to 33rd.

Northern Ireland are now two places above the Scots, a fine win away to Slovenia resulting in a jump of 14 places to 45th, while Wales remain 84th.

Indeed, Scotland lie below lesser renowned football nations like Gabon, Burkina Faso, Montenegro and Cyprus.

Levein's side next travel to Prague to face the Czech Republic, who have themselves slipped six places to 37th, then take on Spain four days later.

The Scottish Football Association announced on Tuesday that all the tickets for the visit by Vicente del Bosque's world champions have been sold following a "phenomenal demand" from the home team's supporters.



see also
England sixth in world rankings
15 Sep 10 |  Football
What a difference a goal makes
07 Sep 10 |  Scotland
Levein stresses Scots' positives
07 Sep 10 |  Scotland
Stoppage time is queried by Zaugg
08 Sep 10 |  Scotland
Scotland 2-1 Liechtenstein
07 Sep 10 |  Scotland
Lithuania 0-0 Scotland
03 Sep 10 |  Scotland


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