Milan, 11 June (LaPresse) – Argentina (1st, +2), the reigning world champions, will begin their title defence as number one, according to the June FIFA/Coca-Cola rankings published just hours before the start of the biggest FIFA World Cup ever. Following a series of pre-World Cup friendlies that marked the second period in which the rankings were updated in real time during international matches, Argentina has returned to the top after victories in both of its warm-up friendlies, against Iceland and Honduras. La Albiceleste sit ahead of France (3rd, -2), who slipped back after their defeat to Côte d’Ivoire followed by a win against Northern Ireland, and Spain (2nd, unchanged), who drew with Iraq and then beat Peru. They are followed by England, Portugal and Brazil. Further down the top ten, Morocco (7th, up one place) continues its rise, reaching its highest ever position since the men’s world rankings were introduced in August 1993. In doing so, it overtakes the Netherlands (8th, down one place). Belgium and Germany round off the top ten, in ninth and tenth place respectively. Italy is 12th, behind Croatia.
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