IRELAND HAVE HIT a new low in the FIFA world rankings.
The Boys in Green dropped four places to 70th in June — the country’s worst position since the system started in the early 1990s.
Albania, Bolivia, El Salvador and Poland all leapfrogged Martin O’Neill’s side in the last month.
Although rankings points are calculated over a four-year period, recent results are given greater emphasis.
Friendly defeats against Serbia and Turkey have seen Ireland tumble, and it could have been even worse had they not drawn against Italy last weekend.
At the top end, Spain and Germany remain the world’s best two teams while World Cup hosts and favourites Brazil have moved up one place to third ahead of the start of the tournament next week.
Portugal, Argentina, Switzerland, Uruguay, Colombia, Italy and England round out the top 10.