Colombia moved up to fifth in the official international FIFA world soccer rankings Wednesday.
Following an impressive end to the year in which they held Brazil to a 1-1 draw, Los Cafeteros now lie behind, Germany, Argentina, Italy and Spain in the rankings of the best soccer teams in the world.
This is a stark contrast to the position they found themselves in at the end of 2011 when they were ranked as 36 in the world.
The latest jump of three places means that Jose Pekerman’s side lie just one place off their best ever position which was attained in 1996.
It is just reward for a fantastic year for Pekerman and his players with a fine record of six wins from eight games. The highlights of which was a 4-0 demolition of Uruguay, a 3-1 victory in Chile and of course the 1-1 draw with five-times World Cup winners Brazil.
Colombia will look to maintain their sensational rise in the world rankings when they begin the second phase of World Cup Brazil 2014 qualifying with a home clash with Bolivia on March 22.