Jan. 08--The U.S. national soccer team will begin the new year where it ended the last one, ranked 27th in the world, according to the FIFA rankings released Thursday.
There were few international matches played since the December rankings were announced, so there was no movement among the top 45 teams.
World Cup champion Germany remained No. 1, followed by World Cup runner-up Argentina. Colombia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Brazil -- all of whom reached the quarterfinals in last summer's tournament in Brazil -- filled the next four spots.
The No. 27 ranking is the lowest spot the U.S. team has held entering a year since 2013, when it ranked 28th. At this time last year, the U.S. ranked 14th.
Mexico -- which, like the U.S., was eliminated in the second round in Brazil -- remained 20th in the world rankings. Costa Rica, in 16th place, is the highest-ranked team from the CONCACAF region.
The top 30 in FIFA's world rankings:
1. Germany
2. Argentina
3. Colombia
4. Belgium
5. Netherlands
6. Brazil
7. Portugal
(tie) France
9. Spain
10. Uruguay
11. Italy
12. Switzerland
13. England
14. Chile
15. Romania
16. Costa Rica
17. Czech Republic
18. Algeria
19. Croatia
20. Mexico
21. Slovakia
22. Tunisia
23. Austria
24. Greece
25. Ukraine
26. Ecuador
27. U.S.
28. Ivory Coast
29. Bosnia and Herzegovina
30. Denmark
