Thursday, 13 March 2014 - 13:26
Oranje falls from FIFA Top 10 rankings
According to the FIFA global rankings, the Netherlands is no longer in the top ten best football-playing countries in the world.
After the 2-0 loss from France, Oranje lost its 10th place standing in the list, conceding it to Belgium. For the first time in many years, the Netherlands is not in the top 10 highest standing countries.
The last time the Netherlands lost out on the top 10 was in September 2002. Oranje just missed out on the World Cup in Japan and South Korea and sank down to number 12.
In the twelve years since, the Netherlands has had some highs, like landing in first in 2011, but it didn't last long. The team went down to third quickly.
At the impending World Cup this Summer, the Netherlands is going to have to face the leading team in the list, Spain. Their other competitors in the group phase, Chile and Australia, stand at 15th an 63rd respectively.
Behind Spain, Germany Argentina, Portugal and Colombia make up the top five. Uruguay, Switzerland, Italy, Brazil, and Belgium make up the rest of the top 10.