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The U.S. National Team held steady at 12th in this month’s FIFA rankings, despite getting humiliated 5-0 by Mexico in last month’s CONCACAF Gold Cup final.

According to FIFA, the U.S. actually would have climbed into the Top 10 if they handn’t gotten trounced at home by their archrival. What does that mean? It keeps alive hopes _ however thin _ that being seeded in the World Cup is actually possible. Not likely, mind you, but not completely out of the question. It also means the U.S. needs to get some kind of result on Aug. 12 in the rematch in Azteca Stadium, and needs to handle its business in the rest of qualifying. As we all know, a seed can make all the difference from having a horrible group stage ouster and getting into the knockout rounds. Mexico got seeded (undeservedly) in 2006, and that’s a huge benefit.

South American champ Brazil held onto the top spot they retook in the wake of their 3-2 rally against the U.S. in the Confederations Cup final. European champ Spain stayed in second. Canada jumped 40 spots from 66 to 26.