• World Cup run sees Gareth Southgate’s side up six from 12th • Belgium are second and Brazil third – Germany drop to 15th

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

England’s World Cup success has taken them to sixth place in Fifa’s world rankings. Gareth Southgate’s side have jumped six places after reaching the semi-finals in Russia last month – the furthest they had progressed in the tournament since 1990.

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They defeated Colombia and Sweden in the knockout stages before losing against Croatia in the semi-finals.

France ultimately defeated Zlatko Dalic’s Croatia side in the final and have taken over the top spot from Germany, who crashed 14 places after flopping in Russia when they failed to make the knockout stages.

Belgium have climbed to second spot after reaching the World Cup semi-finals and beating England in the third-place play-off, while Brazil dropped to third.

Croatia are the biggest movers in the top 20 and rise 16 places to fourth after making the last four in Russia and the World Cup quarter-finalists Uruguay are up nine to fifth.

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Portugal, Switzerland, Spain and Denmark – the latter two sharing ninth position – complete the top 10. Argentina dropped out of the top 10, down from fifth to 11th, Sweden went up 11 places to 13th after making the quarter-finals in Russia but Poland, who finished bottom of their group, were another side to plummet from the top 10 – dropping from eighth to 18th. Italy, who failed to qualify for the World Cup, dropped out of the top 20, down from 19th to 21st.

Russia, who exceeded low expectations in their home tournament in making the quarter-finals, rise 21 spots to 49th.

Quick guide Fifa rankings 16 August 2018 Show Hide Top 20 1 France (1726 points) +6 places

2 Belgium (1723) +1

3 Brazil (1657) -1

4 Croatia (1643) +16

5 Uruguay (1627) +9

6 England (1615) +6

7 Portugal (1599) -3

8 Switzerland (1597) -2

=9 Spain (1580) +1

=9 Denmark (1580) +3

11 Argentina (1574) -6

12 Chile (1570) -3

13 Sweden (1565) +11

14 Colombia (1563) +2

15 Germany (1561) -14

16 Mexico (1560) -1

17 Netherlands (1540) unchanged

18 Poland (1538) -10

19 Wales (1536) -1

20 Peru (1535) -9

Wales have fallen one to 19th, the USA move up three to 22nd despite failing to reach the World Cup, while Northern Ireland climb two places to 27th. The Republic of Ireland re-entered the top 30 – climbing two spots to 29th, with Scotland also up two in taking 40th in the list.