India placed at 148th spot in FIFA rankings

New Delhi, Oct 9 (UNI) India climbed three places to be ranked 148 on the FIFA charts while European champions Spain remained top of the world soccer rankings.

The AFC Challenge Cup win helped India to tallied 173 points which is now ranked 22nd among Asian countries, above teams like Yemen and Lebanon.

India had lost to the Lebanon in the first-round of qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.

Italy, Germany, Brazil, the Netherlands, Croatia, Argentina, Czech Republic, Russia and Portugal complete the top 10.

Former World Cup winners France stayed at number 11 and England moved up one place to 14.

World Cup qualifying wins over Armenia and Bosnia were enough to keep Vicente Del Bosque's side comfortably clear of the Italians, who also enjoyed qualifying victories over Georgia and Cyprus in the past month.

Brazil climbed above the Netherlands and Croatia into fourth place off the back of their World Cup qualifying draw with Bolivia and away win over Chile.

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