Iran rises eight places in FIFA rankings

MNA – ZURICH, Iran moved eight places up in the latest FIFA rankings released on Wednesday.

In the world rankings, Iran has risen to 42nd place with 626 points. Iran trounced Bahrain 6-0 in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers last week, six days after the Carlos Queiroz’s men routed Palestine 7-0 in a friendly.

The Persians still stay at fourth place among the Asian teams. Japan remains the best Asian team with 924 points followed by Australia (868) and South Korea (754).

Spain extended its lead at the top of FIFA’s monthly rankings with the second-placed Netherlands losing ground on the World Cup winners after their defeat to Sweden. Germany is third, Uruguay is below them while Brazil moves up two places to fifth.

The FIFA world rankings are determined by points awarded from match results in a three-year period, with more recent games given greater weight.

Teams get additional points for playing relatively strong opponents. The next FIFA men’s rankings are to be released on Nov. 23.