Following the 1-2 defeat to Finland earlier this month, Malta dropped eight places in the Coca-Cola/FIFA World Ranking. Malta is now 158th.

Among the other European countries, Malta is 51st. Just ahead of Malta are Georgia (118, up 6), Luxembourg (124, up 2), Faroe Islands (125, down 7), Kazakhstan (129, down 2) and Liechtenstein (151). The only two countries lying behind Malta are Andorra (201, up 1) and San Marino (202, up 1).

The last game of the season will be a friendly match against Germany on May 13 in Aachen. Malta will then host FYR Macedonia in a friendly match at Ta’ Qali on August 11 before the EURO 2012 qualifying campaign kicks-off with a game against Israel on September 3.

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Meanwhile the latest edition of the ranking reveals a number of changes in the top ten. Spain continue to lead the way ahead of Brazil and the Netherlands, but there is considerable movement in the lower half of the top ten: Portugal (4th, up 2) have overtaken Italy (5th, down 1) and Germany (6th, down 1), while England (7th, up 1) continue to climb the global ladder and have swapped places with France (8th, down 1). Croatia (10th, up 1) have returned to the top ten after a two-month absence.