Colombia break into FIFA top 10 after qualifying wins

ZURICH (Reuters) - Colombia leapt into the top 10 of the FIFA rankings for the first time in a 10 years on Wednesday, while Brazil dropped to a record low despite winning three games in the last month.

Colombia, under Argentina's 2006 World Cup coach Jose Pekerman and spearheaded by Atletico Madrid forward Radamel Falcao, enjoyed a 4-0 win over Uruguay and 3-1 win in Chile in last month's World Cup qualifiers.

Those results catapulted the South Americans, who last qualified for the World Cup in 1998, 13 places up the table to ninth.

2014 World Cup hosts Brazil have not played a competitive match since last year's Copa America and, as friendlies carry less weight in the complex ranking system, they have dropped down the table as a result.

Despite beating South Africa 1-0, China 8-0 and Argentina 2-1 last month, Mano Menezes' side slipped to 14th in the table.

World and European champions Spain stayed top, ahead of Germany, while Portugal moved into third place.

Central African Republic, in 49th place, climbed for the seventh month in a row to enter the top 50 for the first time since the rankings began.

1. (1) Spain

2. (2) Germany

3. (4) Portugal

4. (7) Argentina

5. (3) England

6. (8) Netherlands

7. (5) Uruguay

8. (6) Italy

9. (22) Colombia

10. (11) Greece

(Writing by Brian Homewood; Editing by John O'Brien)