Italy has taken from Brazil the pole position and is at this moment the world's #1 team. The "Squadra Azzurra" had to wait 13 years, 2 months and 27 days to be back at the top of the world. When this ranking was first introduced in August 1993, Italy stayed at the top for 1 month (from November). The national team never went below the 16th place (occupied in May 94, March 97 and April 98 ). Before the World Cup 2006, it stayed for 12 months below the top 10. Obviously the victory in July gave them a high jump in the ranking. The big paradox is that Italy hasn't played any friendly! They took advantage of Brazil's defeat against Portugal on the 6th of February. And it is known that the world ranking works in a different way. Teams lose points in this ranking depending on various factors such as the level of the opponent and the location (home or away).
For example, if Brazil beats San Marino 15-0, there is very little or no gain of points. Now, if Brazil beats Germany at Munich 2-1, they gain some points. If the score is 3-0, they gain more. If they make a draw with Australia at Rio de Janeiro, they lose a certain amount of points.
Now that the easiest part was to get to the top, the hard part is to stay there. Brazil detains the world record of the longest stay at the #1 position, which is 6 years, 9 months and 27 days. France took over in May 2001 and stayed for 13 months. Brazil came back on the throne after its 5th victory in the World Cup and stayed for 4 years, 7 months and 12 days.
Let's see now how long Italy will stay there!
And go Brazil!
The Ranking
1 Italy 1562 | +1
2 Brazil 1540 | -1
3 Argentina 1535 | 0
4 France 1496 | 0
5 Germany 1359 | 0
6 England 1330 | 0
7 Holland 1312 | 0
8 Portugal 1262 | 0
9 Czech Republic 1193 | +1
10 Spain 1161 | +2
11 Ukraine 1018 | +2
12 Croatia 987 | +3
13 Greece 926 | +3
14 Switzerland 913 | +3
15 Romania 912 | +5
16 Sweden 894 | -2
17 Cameroon 893 | -6
18 Denmark 876 | +5
19 Mexico 857 | +2
20 Scotland 854 | +6
21 Ivory Coast 853 | -3
22 Ghana 848 | +6
23 Poland 844 | +2
24 Uruguay 829 | +6
25 Ecuador 828 4
26 Turkey 825 | +1
27 Russia 817 | -3
28 USA 783 | +3
29 Serbia 775 | +4
30 Paraguay 755 | +5
31 Colombia 726 | +3
32 Iran 720 | +5
33 Slovakia 707 | +4
34 Chile 706 | +6
35 Mali 696 | +1
36 Nigeria 690 | -27
37 Bulgaria 689 | +5
38 Senegal 661 | +3
39 Australia 651 | 0
40 Israel 650 | +4
41 Japan 649 | +5
42 Egypt 645 | -23
43 Morocco 639 | -1
44 South Korea 618 | +7
45 Tunisia 612 | -13
46 Ireland 611 | +3
47 Norway 610 | +3
48 Finland 608 | +4
49 Northern Ireland 602 | -2
50 Uzbekistan 596 | -5
...
124 Lebanon 194 | -14
