Malta climbed another two places in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking and is now ranked 145th.

Aming the other European countries, Malta is ranked 48th, lying just behind Cyprus (122, up 3), Iceland (129, up 2) and Moldova (139, up 1). Kazakhstan is ranked 49th in Europe (147, down 6), followed by Liechtenstein (149, down 1), the Faroe Islands (155, down 33), Andorra (198, up 1) and San Marino (202).

Malta plays San Marino in a friendly match on August 14.

Meanwhile both the UEFA EURO 2012 and OFC Nations Cup have clearly left their mark on the current edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.

Spain have managed to extend their lead significantly by defending their European title, while finalists Italy (6th, up 6) have also been richly rewarded for their performances in Poland and Ukraine with a return to the top ten. Defeated semi-finalists Portugal (5th, up 5) and Germany (2nd, up 1) have equally seen improvements in their positions, as have England (4th, up 2), Greece (12th, up 3), Czech Republic (18th, up 9) and hosts Poland (54th, up 8) and Ukraine (46th, up 6).

The Netherlands, on the other hand, have slipped down (8th, down 4), while Brazil (11th, down 6), currently sit in their lowest position since the start of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.

Photo: Copyright © Paul Zammit Cutajar