Malta has finally made a big move upwards in the FIFA world ranking list released yesterday by the world body.

The September list shows Malta occupying 127th place. In August, Malta was placed 138th.

During August Malta collected just 27 points, while in this month’s operations, Malta collected 361 points, mostly due to the World Cup qualifying 1-1 draw with Croatia last week and the 1-1 friendly draw against Northern Ireland.

It is the first time in several years that Malta is finally occupying a place below the 125th ranking. Moreover, Malta was also one of the best movers of the month in the ranking list.

In the overall list, Brazil are still the clear leaders, but Holland move up one place into second, their highest position for more than ten years. Zidane’s comeback also propels France (6th, up three) up the ranking, while Sweden (10th, up five) return to the top ten after an absence of exactly nine years.

England dropped out of the top 10 in FIFA’s monthly rankings after losing two of its last three games.

Sven-Goran Eriksson’s team, which is coming off a 4-1 friendly defeat at Denmark and 1-0 World Cup qualifying loss at Northern Ireland, slipped from seventh to. It’s the first time England has been outside the top 10 since June 2004.

Tunisia, Togo, Ukraine, Panama, the USA and Switzerland are leading the race to be crowned Best Mover of the Year 2005.