Japan moved into the top three in the latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Rankings, the highest position ever for the Nadeshiko.

The United States remains on top of the rankings but second-place Germany has closed to within five points of the Americans.

Brazil (4th, down 1) fell out of the top three for the first time since 2008 after a pair of draws against Canada and a loss to Denmark allowed world champions Japan to take advantage.

There was further movement inside the top 10 as England (8th, down 2) and Korea DPR (9th, down 1) both dropped, paving the way for France (6th, up 1) and Canada (7th, up 2) to climb.

Qualifying for Euro 2013 played a big role inside the top 50 with Poland (33rd, down 4) and Portugal (43rd, down 6) both slipping while other European nations enjoyed small improvements as Belarus (37th, up 1), Austria (38th, up 2) and Slovakia (39th, up 3) each moved up.

The next edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Rankings will be released on Friday, March 16.