India climb seven places in FIFA rankings

Brazil stayed atop the FIFA world rankings as the top three remained unchanged in August while Mexico continued their climb up the table as they enjoy a revival under coach Javier Aguirre.

India climbed seven places to 149 in the rankings, gaining 22 points, after beating Syria to successfully defend the ONGC Nehru Cup title on Monday.

India beat Syria 6-5 on penalties in the final [the teams were locked goalless at full-time and 1-1 after extra-time] of the five-nation tournament to retain the title and take their points tally to 134 in the latest list.

The victory in the final was not taken into account for points as it was decided in a penalty shoot-out.

There was no change in Syria's ranking and they held on to their 96th place in the list.

Brazil, who beat Estonia 1-0 in a friendly last month to extend their unbeaten run to 17 matches and notch their ninth successive win, are followed by Spain in second place and Netherlands in third.

Mexico moved up six places to 24th after beating the US 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier, their second win over their neighbours in as many months. The US remains the CONCACAF region's highest-ranked team at the 11th spot.

Australia, the best-placed team from the Asian confederation, climbed two places to 14th, their highest-ever position. Ivory Coast, Africa's top team, dropped two places to 20th.