Zurich - Argentina maintained first place in the latest world football rankings issued on Wednesday by the ruling body FIFA, with European champions Greece enjoying a best-ever eighth place while Euro 2008 co-hosts Austria crashed out of the top 100.

Argentina lead the way with 1,519 points, a mere 10 points ahead of arch-rivals Brazil, who have 1,509 points.

World Cup champions Italy are third on 1,391, with Spain (1,319), Germany (1,261), the Czech Republic (1,234), France (1,205), Greece (1,187), Portugal (1,125) and the Netherlands (1,124) completing the top 10.

Greece leapfrogged Portugal and the Dutch with a recent victory over the Portuguese (who they also beat twice for the surprise Euro 2004 title) into eighth place two months ahead of their title defence.

The Euro hosts lost ground, with Switzerland dropping six places to 46 and Austria losing 14 places to crash out of the top 100 for the first time in the ranking history - from 88 to 102.(dpaZ)