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Finland down in FIFA rankings

Finland’s male footballers have slipped one place in the rankings system for men’s national teams maintained by the sport’s world governing body FIFA. Last month Finland occupied 83rd position, compared to 84th this month in the newly-released list.

Finland's football team supporters. — Image: YLE

6.6.2013 15:29Updated 21.7.2013 18:21

On Friday Finland will face Belarus in a World Cup qualifying match. Belarus has been ranked in 67th position.

World and European champions Spain have a stranglehold on the number one position on the list, followed by Germany, Argentina and Croatia, which have also maintained their places.

Plucky Finland managed to hold the world and European giants to a 1-1 draw when they last met in a World Cup qualifier back in March.

The Netherlands improved its position in the rankings from ninth position to fifth place.

Belgium and Bosnia-Herzegovina were ranked in 12th and 15th position respectively, their highest positions ever in the ranking system.

Brazil, host of next year’s World Cup finals and the Confederations Cup taking place this month, dropped three notches in the ranking from 19th to 22nd place.