The Maltese national team has dropped one place to the 191st position in the FIFA world rankings, the second time in history that Malta has fallen so low.
The first drop to 191st place was in July this year, with Malta climbing just one step to 190th in August before falling back to 191th place this month.
The defeats suffered against England and Scotland in the past weeks kept Malta firmly anchored in the lowest places. The FIFA rankings cover results of 211 nations.
The only European nations below Malta in the list are Gibraltar (206) and San Marino (204).
Germany takes over at top of FIFA rankings from Brazil
Germany is back at the top of the FIFA rankings, taking over from Brazil after a busy World Cup qualifying program.
European champion Portugal is up three places to No. 3, while Argentina falls one to No. 4 and No. 5 Belgium climbs four places.
European teams, which each played two qualifiers, gained on their South American rivals and could have six of the eight seeded positions at the World Cup. Host Russia, ranked No. 64, and the seven highest-ranked teams in October should be seeded in the Dec. 1 draw.
Poland is No. 6, followed by Switzerland, France, Chile and Colombia.
The best of the other regions include Mexico at No. 14, Iran at No. 25 and Egypt at No. 30.
FIFA rankings published Thursday (last month's rankings in parentheses):
1. Germany (2)
2. Brazil (1)
3. Portugal (6)
4. Argentina (3)
5. Belgium (9)
6. Poland (5)
7. Switzerland (4)
8. France (10)
9. Chile (7)
10. Colombia (8)
11. Spain (11)
12. Peru (15)
13. Wales (18)
14. Mexico (14)
15. England (13)
16. Uruguay (17)
17. Italy (12)
18. Croatia (16)
19. Slovakia (22)
20. Northern Ireland (23)