Scotland set to overtake England

The English national team has become such a joke lately it has been easy to overlook the progress being made north of the border. To put it briefly: would England beat France in Paris in a competitive match? Well, Scotland did.

FIFA's latest rankings - and, yes, the ranking system is a joke - show Scotland are now in 16th, just one place behind England. The development means Scotland could overtake England in next month's rankings if they win their World Cup qualifiers against Macedonia and Iceland, and England slip-up against Andorra (surely not?) and Croatia.

FIFA Top 20

1. Spain (1)
2. Italy (3)
3. Germany (2)
4. Netherlands (4)
5. Croatia (5)
6. Brazil (6)
7. Argentina (7)
8. Czech Republic (8)
9. Portugal (9)
10. Turkey (13)
11. France (12)
12. Russia (10)
13. Romania (11)
14. Cameroon (15)
15. England (14)
16. Scotland (16)
16. Bulgaria (17)
18. Greece (18)
19. Israel (20)
20. Ghana (19)

Croatia above Brazil and in fifth place. That's an amazing achievement and questions will have to be asked of their boss if he decides to leave his post in order to replace the departed Alan Curbishley at West Ham!