ZURICH (AP) – Spain regained first place from Brazil in FIFA’s monthly world rankings yesterday.

The European champions regained the top spot they lost to the South Americans in July after friendly wins over fellow World Cup qualifier Argentina and Austria.

Brazil beat England 1-0 and Oman 2-0 in the past week, but was still overtaken because older ranking points lost value and their wins came against lower-ranked opposition.

The Netherlands and Italy stayed third and fourth, while the biggest movers in the top 10 was Portugal, who rose five places to fifth by twice beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 to qualify for next year’s World Cup.

Portugal was one of several sides to benefit in the rankings from playing more World Cup qualifying matches.

Germany slipped a place to sixth and France rose two to seventh after Thierry Henry’s handball set up the goal that sent his country to the World Cup ahead of Ireland. Ireland dropped two places to No 36.

Argentina, England and Croatia rounded out the top 10, with Cameroon the top-ranked African nation at No 11.

The United States dropped three places to 14th, with Australia the best-placed team from the Asian confederation at No 21.

Top 20 teams in latest FIFA rankings

1 Spain (2), 1,622 points.

2 Brazil (1), 1,592.

3 Netherlands (3), 1,279.

4 Italy (4), 1,215.

5 Portugal (10), 1,181.

6 Germany (5) 1,170.

7 France (9), 1,122.

8 Argentina (6), 1,185.

9. England (7), 1,063.

10 Croatia (8), 1,050.

11 Cameroon (14) 1,035.

12 Greece (16), 1,028.

13 Russia (12), 1,019.

14 United States (11), 980.

15 Mexico (18), 931.

16 Ivory Coast (19), 927.

17 Chile (17), 926.

18 Switzerland (13), 924.

19 Uruguay (25) 901.

20 Serbia (20), 900