Article #78617

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“The top four teams in the Fifa rankings are also the four semi-finalists at the World Cup,” writes Henry Conroy. “Has this happened before?”

The men’s rankings have updated after every match of the World Cup, and Fifa surely missed a trick by not asking the great Martin Tyler to shout “And they’re live!” It means the order has changed during the tournament but the makeup of the top four was the same going into the semi-finals as it was at the start of the competition.

Brazil (3) v Germany (2)

Netherlands (15) v Argentina (5)

Germany (11) v South Korea (40)

Brazil (2) v Turkey (22)

Germany (19) v Italy (13)

Portugal (7) v France (8)

Spain (6) v Sweden (3)

Australia (10) v England (4)

United States (2) v Germany (1)

Japan (4) v England (6)