The Warriors unenviable position has been attributed to the teams failure to qualify for the African Nations Cup in Angola in January and the FIFA 2010 World Cup, which neighbouring South Africa recently hosted.
Zimbabweans watched the FIFA event from home after an embarrassing qualification campaign that cost Brazilian-born coach Jorge Valinhos his job earlier this year.
At its peak in 1994 the team was ranked 40th in the world.
Meanwhile, Spain s 1-0 defeat of the Netherlands last Sunday took them to the top of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World ranking for the third time since its inception.
The Spanish first hit the heights in July 2008, following their success at UEFA EURO 2008.
Their reign lasted a year, and came to an end when they were dethroned by Brazil , the winners of the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009, a competition in which Spain had to settle for third place after losing in the semi-finals to USA .
That loss to the USA ended La Rojas 35-match unbeaten run, one that equalled Brazil s world record, and prevented them from lining up against A Canarinha in the final.
Despite that disappointment, Vicente del Bosques side remained loyal to their footballing principles and put together a near flawless display during their South Africa 2010 qualifying campaign, winning all ten of their matches, a sequence that took them back to first place in the rankings in November 2009.
Dungas Brazil team nudged them off the top again in April and May this year, but Spain s triumph in South Africa and A Seleos quarter-final exit has seen the two swap places again.
South Africa 2010 marked a major change in Spanish fortunes in the FIFA World Cup, a tournament in which they have always flattered to deceive.
The men in red can now put memories of their quarter-final exits at USA 1994 and Korea/Japan 2002 behind them, not to mention their disastrous showing at France 1998, a tournament they went into in their lowest ever Ranking position of 25th and in which they failed to advance beyond the group phase, FIFA said in a statement.
Post published in: Football