Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Korea Republic continue to lead the way in the latest Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Member Association (MA) Ranking which was released on Friday.
The East Asian powerhouse retained top spot ahead of second-placed Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates who have leapfrogged Iran to occupy third place.
Click here to find out the full MA Ranking
A consistently strong showing from Korea Republic’s club sides in the AFC Champions League remains a key factor in the South Koreans topping the AFC MA Ranking. This season alone, two K League Classic outfits - FC Seoul and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors - have battled their way through to the quarter-finals of this season’s competition.
With the results of clubs participating in the last four years of the AFC Champions League and a percentage of their national team’s place in the FIFA Ranking also factored into the equation, Korea Republic topped the charts with 96.294 points - which included the maximum available Club Points - some distance ahead of Saudi Arabia who accrued a total of 92.938.
Click here for the MA Ranking Mechanics
The United Arab Emirates, buoyed by the recent exploits of their teams in the AFC Champions League moved to third with a total of 91.533 points, while Iran, currently Asia’s top national team in the FIFA Rankings, had to settle for fourth spot in the AFC MA Ranking.
Iran’s overall total of 84.108 – which was made up of the maximum 30 points for the National Team points, but only 54.108 out of the 70 available Club Points – reflected the comparatively poorer showing of their club sides in the AFC Champions League over the past four seasons compared with the consistency shown by Korea Republic, Saudi Arabia and, more recently, the United Arab Emirates.
The AFC Ranking system is a recent initiative aimed at providing an indicator on how Asia’s top sides are performing on the continental stage as well as generating even more interest in the Confederation’s already popular club competitions.
Photo: Lagardère Sports