Seven friendlies have been played since the last edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, five of them in the North, Central America and Caribbean zone. The majority of changes are a direct result of a devaluation of past results, however.

It’s a case of as you were at the top, with world champions Germany maintaining their comfortable lead over Argentina and Colombia. The first move on the global ladder concerns Italy, who have climbed two positions at the expense of Spain (11th, down 1) to enter the top ten for the first time since June 2014.

However, the biggest climbers of the month are Barbados (131st) and Bermuda (169th), both of whom have risen by 11 places by virtue of a win and a draw each.

With Northern Ireland (43rd, up 8) back in the top 50 and Congo dropping three places down to 52nd, the composition of the top 50 has changed slightly in favour of UEFA, which is currently represented by 29 teams, followed by CAF (11), CONMEBOL (6), CONCACAF (3) and the AFC (1), while the OFC has none.

The best-ranked teams by confederation are Germany (1st), Argentina (2nd), Costa Rica (13th), Algeria (18th), Iran (42nd) and New Zealand (134th).

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 9 April 2015.