GENEVA, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- World champions Argentina maintained their lead in the FIFA World Rankings, with the top ten teams largely unchanged, as FIFA released the new rankings on Thursday.

After a 1-0 win over Ecuador and a 3-0 victory against Bolivia in its opening World Cup CONMEBOL zone qualifiers, Argentina solidified its top position. Meanwhile, second-placed France dropped points following a 2-1 defeat to Germany in a friendly.

Brazil retained its third spot, with England (4th), Belgium (5th), and Croatia (6th) also keeping their respective positions.

The Netherlands is in seventh place while Portugal moves up to eighth. Italy stands in ninth and Spain stays in 10th place, rounding out the top 10.

In September, 159 international matches were taken into account for the rankings. While no team made a significant leap in the standings, Northern Ireland experienced the most significant drop, falling 10 spots to 74th.