FIFA World Rankings 2015: Belgium Move Ahead of Germany in Latest Standings

Belgium have climbed above World Cup winners Germany into second place in the latest FIFA world rankings, while Argentina retain their position in the top spot.

The Netherlands have dropped out of the top 10 completely after a poor run of form—they are down to 12th—while England and Wales have both moved up a spot into eight and ninth respectively.

Here is a look at the latest standings after the August 6 update:

Position	Nation	Points	Position Change
1	Argentina	1425	-
2	Belgium	1244	+1
3	Germany	1226	-1
4	Colombia	1218	0
5	Brazil	1186	+1
6	Portugal	1177	+1
7	Romania	1166	+1
8	England	1157	+1
9	Wales	1155	+1
10	Chile	1124	+1

Chile have edged into the top 10 as a result of their recent Copa America triumph, La Roja beating Argentina in the final.

Spain are one spot back from the Chileans in 11th, and Mexico's recent CONCACAF Gold Cup victory sees them up 14 places into 26th, per FIFA.com's full rankings.

Following the Gold Cup, USA also moves up five places into 29th and runners-up Jamaica are up to 55th with the biggest leap of 21 spots.

Ricardo Mazalan/Associated Press

Germany's fall comes as a result of the devaluation of their points from the World Cup triumph in Brazil over a year ago.

Similarly, the Netherlands can no longer live off their third-place finish in the Brazil tournament, and they have taken a hit after a very poor run of results—they have lost five times since the World Cup—which has seen the end of Guus Hiddink as manager. 

Wales are up into their highest-ever position in the world rankings and now sit above some illustrious names in the history of international football, per BBC Sport's Ben Smith:

The biggest losers from the latest standings are Serbia, who have dropped 23 places to 66th in the world. 

The top 50 in the FIFA rankings now actually includes 51 teams, as the Republic of Ireland and Cape Verde Islands are tied in 50th spot on 608 points.

The lowest-ranked home nation is Northern Ireland, who are down three places into 40th, and Scotland are in 32nd.

There is likely to be little movement for the release of the updated rankings on September 3, just ahead of the next round of Euro 2016 qualifiers.