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Brazil still ranked FIFA’s No. 1 despite Argentina’s World Cup win

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Argentina will not take over at the top of FIFA’s World Ranking this month — despite defeating France to win the World Cup for the first time since 1986, foreign media reported.

Brazil have held the No. 1 position since February, when they deposed Belgium at the summit. But even though the Selecao failed to make it past the quarterfinals, Argentina’s results haven’t been enough to overtake them.

Brazil won three games at the World Cup, lost to Cameroon and suffered a penalty shootout defeat at the hands of Croatia.

Argentina, meanwhile, won four games, lost one to Saudi Arabia and were twice victorious on penalties — including the final on Sunday as they beat France 4-2 on spot kicks.

Argentina and France both moved up one place into second and third respectively, while Belgium slid down two places to fourth after failing to make it beyond the group stage. England stayed in fifth, with fellow quarterfinalists Netherlands up two places into sixth.

Croatia’s run to a third-place finish at the World Cup sees them as the biggest climbers into the top 10, up five places from 12th. Italy, who failed to make it to Qatar, dropped two spots to eighth. Portugal are unchanged in ninth, with Spain down three places to 10th.

Morocco moves up 11 places

The biggest climbers are Morocco and Australia, who both rose 11 places. Both countries massively overperformed, with fourth-place Morocco now the top-ranked African team in 11th and Australia, which made the round of 16, up to 27th. It’s not Morocco’s highest-ever ranking, as they were 10th in 1998, but as recently as 2015 they were as low as 92nd.

Cameroon also enjoyed a big rise of 10 places up to 33rd, thanks to their win over Brazil.

The United States takes over as the top-ranking CONCACAF team, up three places into 13th as Mexico falls two into 15th.

Canada and Qatar are the biggest fallers, both dropping 12 places into 53rd and 62nd respectively. Wales slump nine spots into 28th; Denmark are down eight into 18th and Serbia drop eight to 29th.

The new FIFA World Ranking, which is a rolling assessment of results weighted for importance, will be officially published on Thursday.

New FIFA Ranking top 20:

  1. Brazil
  2. Argentina
  3. France
  4. Belgium
  5. England
  6. Netherlands
  7. Croatia
  8. Italy
  9. Portugal
  10. Spain
  11. Morocco
  12. Switzerland
  13. USA
  14. Germany
  15. Mexico
  16. Uruguay
  17. Colombia
  18. Denmark
  19. Senegal
  20. Japan

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Passengers jump from plane’s wing after fire alert on Spain flight, triggers panic

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Wildfires have broken out on an island and in towns near Athens in Greece, with blazes also being sparked in Turkey and Syria.

The Hellenic Fire Service and local authorities said that two villages – Tsakeoi and Limnionas – had been evacuated on the island of Evia after the blaze started late on Friday.

One fire service official said more than 160 firefighters, 46 trucks and five aircraft were deployed in southern Evia to put out the fire.

Southern Evia, to the east of Athens, was one of several regions in Greece placed on high alert for wildfires over gale-force winds forecast for today.

Images from Koropi, a town to the southwest of Athens, also show houses burnt down and helicopters dropping water on burning forests.

It marks the latest wildfires to break out in Greece – where blazes are common during the summer – as it tackles strong winds and dry conditions amid an early summer heatwave in southern Europe.

Officials have linked the conditions to at least nine deaths across the continent.

A wildfire broke out in Achlia on the island of Crete on Wednesday, forcing thousands of residents and tourists to evacuate – with some taken to a nearby basketball arena and hotels in safer parts of the island.

The fire service official told Reuters on Friday that the fire in Crete was largely contained.

Meanwhile, blazes have also broken out on Turkey’s west coast – the latest in a series of blazes which started in late June – as well as its southerly neighbour Syria.

At least five fires have been reported in Izmir after extreme heat, strong winds and low humidity. Two people have been killed by the blazes, while tens of thousands have been evacuated.

Fires also flared on both sides of the Turkish-Syrian border on Friday, with a new blaze reported near the town of Dortyol in Turkey’s border province of Hatay.

According to Syria’s Civil Defence, wildfires have spread across large parts of mountainous areas in the Latakia province.

The government department added that conditions have hampered efforts to bring the fire under control, and noted unexploded ordnance could be in some of the areas affected.

Source: SKY NEWS

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CBSL extends Perpetual Treasuries suspension for six months

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The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has decided to extend the suspension of Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) from carrying on the business and activities of a Primary Dealer for a further period of six months.

The extension is with effect from 4.30 p.m. on 05th July 2025, in order to continue the investigations being conducted by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

The suspension has been extended by CBSL acting in terms of the Regulations made under the Registered Stock and Securities Ordinance and the Local Treasury Bills Ordinance.

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Kataragama Basnayake Nilame pressured over complaint against Kapuwas’ donation misuse

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It has been reported that Dishan Wickramaratne Gunasekara – the Basnayake Nilame of the historic Ruhunu Kataragama Maha Devalaya, is facing pressure including from several parties including political circles to withdraw his complaint lodged against the custodians (Kapu Mahattaya) of the devalaya.

The issue had arisen after it was discovered that some custodians were collecting money into their own tills instead of allowing them to be deposited in the official donation box.

Public discussion about the transparency of the temple’s donations intensified after the Basnayake Nilame had begun using a portion of the funds for community projects like hospital construction.

Traditionally, devotees often handed donations directly to the custodians, but the Basnayake Nilame had urged the public via media to place offerings only in the official donation box managed by the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs.

He subsequently arranged a proper audit of all such donations for the first time.

In response, some custodians had reportedly begun pressuring devotees near the official box to hand over donations to them instead.

Upon learning of this, the Basnayake Nilame had lodged a complaint with the Kataragama Police, arguing that diverting funds from the official box amounts to fraudulent misappropriation.

Acting on the complaint, police arrested 02 custodians who were collecting offerings near the official box.

However, other custodians then surrounded the police station and pressured the officers to release the arrested individuals, resulting in their release.

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