Brazil have climbed to third place in the latest Fifa Ranking table - the last before the World Cup gets under way - behind the unchanged top two of Germany and Spain.

Luiz Felipe Scolari's side have leapfrogged Portugal, who slip down to fourth, following their results up to and including May 30.

Argentina have climbed two places into fifth, with Switzerland one spot behind them having moved ahead of Colombia and Uruguay.

Italy remain ninth, while England return to the top 10 at the expense of Greece, who slip to 12th.

Elsewhere, Palestine have climbed a staggering 71 places to reach their highest-ever position of 94th, after claiming glory in the AFC Challenge Cup and reaching the final of the AFC Asian Cup.

France, meanwhile, have slipped to 17th after Ukraine - the side they beat to reach the World Cup finals - climbed one place above them, while Algeria are the highest-ranked African nation after climbing three places into 22nd as Cote d'Ivoire slipped to 23rd. Nigeria remain 44th.

Taking into account the average points tallies and table positions of the teams, Group D (Italy, England, Uruguay and Costa Rica) is the strongest World Cup group along with Group G (Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA).

"The results of 112 'A' international matches have been taken into account for the current edition of the ranking, with 67 friendly matches plus continental qualifiers in CAF (26 matches), the AFC (16) and Concacaf (3) being played up to May 30," a statement released by Fifa confirms.

The next Ranking will be published on July 17.