The French closed the gap on Brazil at the top of the FIFA world rankings, issued on Wednesday, but could not quite overhaul the Latin Americans despite their World Cup and Euro 2000 victories.

France now lie second only 17 points off first place after the European Championship saw considerable movement in the top of the rankings.

England's poor performances which culminated in defeats against Portugal and Romania in the group stage saw them slip down three places to 15th.

Finalists Italy moved up eight places and entered the top ten at number six. The biggest climbers were hosts Holland who jumped from 21st to eighth.

1-Brazil-825 points
2-France-808
3-Czech Republic-753
4=Spain-744
4=Argentina-744
6-Italy-732
7-Portugal-717
8-Netherlands-713
9-Germany-711
10-Norway-708
11-Yugoslavia-705
12-Romania-701
13-Mexico-698
14-Croatia-694
15-England-691