Soccer:The Republic of Ireland remain in 26th position in the Fifa world rankings following their scoreless draw with Serbia during August. The latest table, which takes into account the international friendlies last month, was released this morning.

Portugal are the only side to have made an upwards move inside the top 10, Paulo Bento’s men moving from fifth to fourth, with Uruguay swapping places with them. Reigning world and European champions Spain stay top, with Germany second and England third.

Brazil are still outside the top ten with the South Americans, who hit an all-time low of 13th last month, climbing just one place to 12th thanks to a 3-0 friendly win in Sweden. But their placing, one below Greece, is still surprisingly low as they have won 10 of their 13 full internationals played in the last year, with their only defeats against Argentina and Mexico during a tour of the United States in June.

Switzerland have broken into the top 20 with a three-place rise from 23rd, while Slovenia are big movers, up nine spots to 24th, with Belgium also making a leap from 53rd to 40th.