Agency :
Germany dropped the United States from the top spot in the final FIFA Women’s World Ranking of the year, FIFA announced Friday.
The United States is not ranked No. 1 for the first time since March 2008.
Germany earned the top stop after recent victories over Sweden and England. The United States women lost to Brazil last week and drew China during the 2014 International Tournament of Brasilia. The US defeated Argentina 7-0 on Thursday in the group finale of the tournament and must wait to see if it advances to the tournament final.
France moves up one spot to No. 3 in the rankings, Japan is No. 4 and Sweden rounds out the top five. England, Korea moved up four spots to No. 7, with Brazil, Canada and Australia completing the top 10.
Papua New Guinea was the biggest mover in the rankings, climbing 85 spots to No. 48.
Seven teams re-entered the ranking: Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Cook Islands, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bhutan. Seven teams dropped out for being inactive for more than 18 months.
The next Women’s World Ranking will be published on March 27.
