Japan at No. 3 has its best soccer ranking

Japan improves to No. 3 in the FIFA women's soccer rankings, which again have the United States and Germany ranked 1-2. The United States has been atop the quarterly rankings since March 2008 when the Americans pushed Germany to the No. 2 ranking. The United States has 2,148 rankings points, just five ahead of Germany. The last time the United States and Germany weren't the top two ranked teams was June 2009. Japan, which has won its last three matches by a combined 13-0, gains a spot in the rakings to No. 3, which is the highest ever for the team. Brazil, which was a shaky 2-1-2 in recent games, slips to fourth. Japan has 2,106 points and Brazil is at 2,093. Sweden (2,073) remains ranked fifth but France (1,990) goes from seventh to sixth and Canada (1,989) is up two places to seventh. England (1,983) is off two to eighth and North Korea (1,967) drops one place to ninth. Australia (1,967) is 10th. The FIFA world rankings are determined by points awarded from match results in a three-year period, with more recent games given greater weight. Teams get additional points for playing relatively strong opponents. The next FIFA women's rankings are to be released March 16.