Mexico slips in FIFA ranking

Mexico City, June 6 (IANS) Mexico's national football team slipped from No. 19 to No. 20 in the world ranking with a total of 882 points in the latest FIFA rankings released Thursday.

Mexico's recent 1-0 loss against Bosnia and Herzegovina combined with its 3-0 win over Israel and 3-1 win over Ecuador pushed the team slightly downward in the rankings, Xinhua reported.

In the North and Central American Concacaf region, the US remains in the first place, and climbed a rung up to No. 13 in FIFA rankings, with an accumulated 1,035 points, with Mexico trailing in second place.

In third place regionally is Costa Rica, which climbed six notches to 28th place globally, with 762 points, after defeating Paraguay and despite losing to Japan this week.

In fourth place is Panama, which climbed four spots to 31st, with 743 points, followed by Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti and Jamaica.

Spain continues to lead the world rankings with 1,485 points, followed by Germany (1,300 points), Brazil, which rose to third place with 1,242 points, Portugal (1,189 points), and Argentina which climbed two rungs, with 1,175 points.

The updated rankings is expected to be released in the first half of July.