U.S. drops to No. 32 in FIFA rankings after Honduras loss

Clint Dempsey and the U.S. next face Costa Rica after losing at Honduras.

Moises Castillo/AP

The United States dropped four spots to No. 32 in FIFA's February rankings after losing a World Cup qualifier at Honduras.

The ranking is the lowest for the Americans since they were 32nd in October. Since reaching a high of No. 4 in April 2006, the Americans have dropped as low as 36th last July and August.

Honduras moved up eight places to a tie for 51st.

World and European champion Spain leads the rankings and African champion Nigeria moved up 22 places to No. 30 after its victory over Burkina Faso in last weekend's African Cup of Nations final.

The top three spots were unchanged, with Germany second followed by Argentina. England improved two places to fourth after an exhibition win over 18th-ranked Brazil, whose ability to earn ratings points has been hurt because as World Cup host it has not played a competitive match in 1 1-2 years.

Italy dropped to No.5. The top ranked African country is No. 12 Ivory Coast, which lost to Nigeria in the quarterfinals.

Mexico leads the North and Central American and Caribbean nations at No. 15. Japan tops Asian nations at No. 28, down seven places.