It was the second highest leap in places in the top 50, only behind the Ivory Coast who moved up 14 places.

The Socceroos' rank improvement comes after Australia cameclose to falling out of the top 50, slipping down to 48th place and in danger of dropping further.

England have moved up a place in the FIFA world rankings but remain outside the top 10 after their failure to qualify for Euro 2008.

Fabio Capello's team are 11th in the latest list published today, with non-movers Scotland three places further back.

Northern Ireland are down two spots to 34th, the Republic of Ireland sit 36th and Wales are the lowest-ranked home nation in 54th.

Argentina remain top of the pile, followed by Brazil and Italy, while Ghana have surged to 14th, up 29 places, as a result of their performance in the African Nations Nations Cup.

They are now the continent's best-placed nation ahead of Cameroon (17th) and Ivory Coast (24th).

Central American minnows Belize have climbed off the bottom of the rankings following their first win in six years and have been replaced by Montserrat.