The US national team isn't playing for loftier perch in the FIFA World Rankings these days. But on the heels of a strong 2-0 win over South Korea to start off 2014, that's just what they've earned.
Jurgen Klinsmann's Yanks climbed one spot to No. 13, leaping past a stale, tumbling England in the process. The ranking is tied for the highest the USMNT have been under Klinsmann, as the team spent two months at the end of last summer at No. 13.
They haven't been higher than that since October of 2009, when they were ranked No. 11 on the heels of a Confederations Cup final appearance and a Hexagonal-topping World Cup qualifying run.
Even with the current climb, however, the US are still prohibitive underdogs in their World Cup group. Favorites Germany held steady at No. 2, while Portugal jumped past Colombia into the No. 4 spot, and Group G remains the only group with two top-5 teams.
Ghana, following a punchless African Nations Championship in which they scored just four goals in six games while using a domestic-based team, dropped 13 spots, out of the top 30 to No. 37.
Elsewhere in CONCACAF Mexico held their No. 21 spot, while Costa Rica dropped three places to No. 35 and Honduras climbed three to No. 40.
