Gordon Strachan has handed a first call up to Bournemouth's Matt Ritchie
Scotland have dropped one place in the latest FIFA world rankings as they prepare to resume their Euro 2016 qualification campaign later this month.
Gordon Strachan’s side, who face Northern Ireland on March 25 before returning to competitive action four days later when they welcome Gibraltar to Hampden, now sit in 39th spot.
It is Scotland’s lowest ranking since September 2013 despite the undoubted progress made since Strachan took the reins from Craig Levein two years ago.
The likes of Iceland, Israel and the Cape Verde Islands now find themselves above the Scotland in the standings, while Group D rivals Poland have leapfrogged the Scots into 34th spot.
Germany (1), Ireland (66) and Georgia (126) complete Scotland’s qualification opponents, with minnows Gibraltar still unrecognised by FIFA.
England, meanwhile, lead the home nations – despite dropping two places to 17th – ahead of Wales (37) and Northern Ireland (43).
World champions Germany are top of the rankings. Argentina and Colombia are second and third respectively.
Spain, meanwhile, have dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since January 2007.
