Big Movers of 2009
There were no movers at the very top, but England moved up one place into 9th having reached the final of Euro 2009 and China moved up a place into the top ten.
Azerbaijan picked up unexpected points in their 2011 World Cup qualifiers in Baku beating Wales 2-1 and holding Belgium to a goalless draw.
Venezuela thrashed highflyers Cuba 6-0 in the first of 3 friendly matches on Cuban soil where they remained unbeaten.
Hungary hammered Serbia 8-1 in an away friendly and defeated Poland 4-2 at home in a World Cup qualifier.
Estonia had a 2-1 friendly win against Kazakhstan in Armenia.
Serbia who were taken apart 8-1 at home to Hungary in a friendly, could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Croatia in a World Cup qualifier.
Slovenia were trampled upon 8-0 by Italy before being swept aside 4-0 by Portugal in World Cup qualifiers on home soil.
Taiwan were stunned 1-0 by Jordan before suffering a 5-2 defeat in Asian Cup qualifiers in front of their home crowd.
Cuba moved down from their lofty position in the rankings after playing 3 friendly matches at home to Venezuela where they were brought down to earth 6-0 before drawing 1-1 at losing 2-0 to their visitors.
The most surprising result of the year was Palestine's 4-0 mauling of the Maldives in Malaysia in an Asian Cup qualifier.
The highest score was South Korea's 19-0 demolition of Northern Mariana Islands in a friendly tournament in Taiwan where the hapless islanders were also humiliated 17-0 by their hosts.
The 2 new teams were Kyrgyzstan and the Northern Mariana Islands who moved in at 145th and 150th respectively.
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