By virtue of the recent drawn matches in the World Cup qualifiers, Malta has moved up two places in the October FIFA rankings published yesterday. Malta lies in 125th place with a total of 368 points, one more than Liechtenstein, who slipped down three places.

Meanwhile, England returned to the top 10, while the Czech Republic moved up to third behind Brazil and the Netherlands.

Brazil topped the rankings for the 39th straight month. They have 840 points, with Netherlands on 797 and the Czechs on 783.

Sweden dropped to 13th after a month inside the top 10 - their first time there in nine years. The United States remained in seventh.

The big movers were Uruguay, who jumped eight places to 17th after their 1-0 win over Argentina won them a place in the World Cup playoffs. Croatia jumped five places to 19th after reaching their third World Cup.

African countries making their World Cup debut in Germany next year also did well. Togo made their debut in the top 50, jumping five places to 49, while Ghana moved 11 places to 51.

FIFA rankings for October (previous rank in parentheses):

1. Brazil 840 points (1); 2. Netherlands 797 (2); 3. Czech Republic 783 (4); 4. Argentina 778 (3); 5. France 776 (6); 6. Mexico 769 (5); 7. United States 768 (7); 8. Spain 764 (8); 9. England 754 (11); ,Portugal 754 (9); 11. Turkey 743 (12); 12. Italy 736 (13); 13. Sweden 733 (10); 14. Denmark 730 (14); 15. Germany 712 (15); 16. Japan 711 (16); 17. Uruguay 709 (25); 18. Greece 706 (20); 19. Croatia 702 (24); 20. Costa Rica 700 (19).