Football: Czech Republic 2nd in FIFA rankings ahead of World Cup

The Czech Republic's national football squad will head to next month's World Cup in Germany in 2nd place in FIFA rankings - behind leaders Brazil and just ahead of 3rd place the Netherlands. The rankings system takes into account not only squad results but also match importance, goals scored and a number of other factors. Despite the Czechs' high ranking this year's World Cup will be the first they have taken part in since 1990. The Czechs have fared well on the European level: at Euro 1996 and 2004, coming in silver and bronze, respectively.