USA Drops in Latest FIFA Poll

ZURICH, Switzerland (Ticker) - The United States has slipped one place to 18th in the latest FIFA world rankings, released Wednesday. Bob Bradley's team absorbed two defeats during August, losing 1-0 to Sweden in Gothenberg, Sweden, and 4-2 to Brazil in Chicago. Mexico leads the way among CONCACAF nations despite slipping two places to 13th. Mexico also lost its last two games, 3-1 to Brazil and 1-0 to Colombia. Canada, which tied its last two games against Iceland and Costa Rica with identical 1-1 scores, dropped one place to 54th.

The overall rankings are topped by world champion Italy, which returns to first place having jumped two places following the recent Euro 2008 qualifiers. A win over Ukraine and a draw with France sees Roberto Donadoni's side replace Brazil at the summit, with the South American side falling to third behind fellow Copa America finalists Argentina. Germany moves up one place to fourth, Holland is fifth - a rise of two places - while France's recent home defeat to Scotland drops it two places to sixth. Nigeria replaces Cameroon as the top nation in Africa in 23rd place overall, Japan (34th) leads Asian nations, and Fiji comes out on top in the Oceania zone after climbing 51 places to 119th.