Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Zurich: Kyrgyzstan secured their best-ever position in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking with the Central Asians climbing 16 places to sit in 108th position in the final global list of 2015 having started the year in 152nd place before slipping to 177th in July.
After going down 3-0 to reigning continental champions Australia (pictured) in the first of two FIFA 2018 World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifying matches , Kyrgyzstan recorded an impressive 1-0 win over Jordan, who rounded out the year as Asia’s tenth-ranked side.
Iran were Asia’s number one side and the only AFC member association that finished the year in the World’s top 50, with the 45th-ranked Team Melli leading the continental standings ahead of Korea Republic, Japan, and AFC Cup holders Australia, who climbed three spots on the World Rankings to sit in 57th spot, eight notches above the UAE, third-place finishers at Asia’s flagship tournament in January and the continent’s fifth-ranked team in December’s list.
Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, and China follow in 6th, 7th, and 8th places respectively while Qatar, who became the first team to qualifying directly for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup after a 3-0 win over Bhutan gave them an unassailable lead at the top of joint-qualifying Group D, are in 9th place ahead of Jordan.
Meanwhile, 11th-placed Iraq are the only other AFC Member Association to end the year in the top 100, with the 2007 AFC Asian Cup champions ranked 89th in the world, 15 positions higher than Oman who are 104th.
Full FIFA Ranking for Asia (December)
1 (45) Iran
2 (51) Korea Republic
3 (53) Japan
4 (57) Australia
5 (65) United Arab Emirates
6 (74) Uzbekistan
7 (80) Saudi Arabia
8 (84) China
9 (86) Qatar
10 (87) Jordan
11 (89) Iraq
12 (104) Oman
13 (105) DPR Korea
14 (108) Kyrgyzstan
15 (119) Turkmenistan
16 (124) Bahrain
17 (125) Syria
18 (133) Thailand
19 (134) Palestine
20 (137) Hong Kong
21 (139) Kuwait
21 (139) Philippines
21 (139) Lebanon
24 (147) Vietnam
25 (148) Tajikistan
26 (149) Singapore
27 (150) Afghanistan
28 (157) Guam
29 (158) Myanmar
30 (160) Maldives
31 (166) India
32 (170) Malaysia
32 (170) Timor-Leste
34 (174) Yemen
35 (177) Laos
36 (179) Indonesia
37 (180) Cambodia
38 (182) Bangladesh
38 (182) Chinese Taipei
39 (184) Pakistan
40 (185) Brunei Darussalam
41 (188) Bhutan
42 (192) Nepal
43 (194) Sri Lanka
44 (195) Macau
45 (201) Mongolia
* Note: position on FIFA’s World Ranking in parenthesis
Photo: AFP