http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/ 33 Iran 47 Japan 54 Korea Republic 58 Australia 65 Jordan 68 Uzbekistan 71 United Arab Emirates 85 Oman 87 Saudi Arabia 92 China PR
Depressing to see Iraq sliding down.. We really have to win our upcoming games in the WAFF Championship. 13th of Asia.. what a joke
we always have a high rank going into the world cup. i remember before 2006 world cup we were up high too.
Iran is ranked number one in Asia now because they have been playing in AFC Asian Cup Qualifers (more points and playing crap teams which helps) and haven't played in any friendlies. Japan, Korea and Australia can only just play in friendlies until the World Cup. Perfect exmple being Brazil, as to why before the Confederation's cup. Brazil's ranking was at it's lowest in it's history cause he had to play just in some meaningless friendly matches. IMO the true ranking for the top teams in Asia are 1. Japan 2. Korea Republic 3. Iran 4. Australia
No!! Grif, don't write comments like these. It only become a endless argument that will go for 3-5 pages.
everybody knows that fifa rankings are not perfect, but you are exaggerating mate. its nobodys fault but australia that they lost back to back 6-0 friendlies. maybe that says something about your team. as for korea being above Iran, we topped the group and beat them home and away, and even before that beat them in their backyard in a friendly. other than japan being too low, right now there is not that much wrong with the rankings, as far as asia is concerned.
I'm not exaggerating mate, it's how the FIFA rankings are done. Korea are a completely different side under Hong Myung-Bo. I know Iran are a good side never said they weren't, and I agree that Iran are a much better side than Australia now. Better than Korea? that's a tough question now since Korea look much more solid under HMB.
It is true that our rankings have gotten a boots by virtue of the fact that we are playing Asian Cup qualifying matches while Japan, S.Korea and Australia haven't. That accounts for Iran surpassing Japan in the rankings, but its worth mentioning that we were ranked above S.Korea and Australia (but behind Japan) even before our recent Asian Cup qualifying matches. Another way to look at the pegging order in Asian football, based solely on results and nothing more, is to look at how ELO ranks the top teams in the AFC. By that measure, the top teams in the AFC are 1- Japan (25) 2- Iran (29) 3- Australia (32) and 4- South Korea (42). Of course, I personally concede that S.Korea have improved and have a slightly better team than Iran, even if they don't have the results right now to back up that assessment of mine. (If they did have the results, S.Korea wouldn't do so poorly in both FIFA and ELO rankings). At the same time, though, while I accept that it is not entirely accurate to look at the recent jump for Iran in its ranking by virtue of its Asian Cup qualifying wins, it is also a bit unfair to totally ignore those results. In fact, you have to admit that Iran winning 6 straight games in impressive, starting with our 1:0 win against Qatar in Doha, then our 4:0 win against Lebanon in Tehran, our win 1:0 win over S.Korea in Seoul, our 2:1 win over Thailand in Tehran, and in particular our 3:0 win over Thailand in Bangkok and our 4:1 win over Lebanon in Beirut. These latter matches showed a much better Iranian side emerging as well. All in all, I prefer grades to numerical rankings and the grades I would give to the top teams in Asia are as follows, with the first letter grade telling of a team's real ability while the 2nd letter grade looks more to its actual results: Japan: B/B- Iran: C+/B- S.Korea: B-/C+ Australia: C+/C+.
Well said, but i would give Australia D+/D+ (but we will get better under Ange postecoglou). Yeah, Iran are strolling through Asian Cup Qualifying and are on a winning streak, playing some good football also. They have a strong chance of making the Round of 16 with their solid defence and making a few surprises come Brazil. Good Luck to Team Melli, i'll be supporting all Asian teams come the World Cup.
Well just making you guys happy haha. Serious though the Bosnian match will decide the runner up spot in Group F. Also you can't rule out Nigeria just yet, as they look much better team than they did in 2010. Australia have the hardest schedule of matches at next years World Cup (based on FIFA rankings) but i hope they do give a good fight, even though they will end of losing all their matches.
February http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/ 1. 38 Iran 2. 50 Japan 3. 53 Australia 4. 57 Uzbekistan 5. 58 UAE 6. 61 South Korea 7. 69 Jordan 8. 75 Saudi Arabia 9. 80 Oman 10. 88 China South Korea is number 6 in Asia.
If Jordan or Saudi Arabia win their next qualifiers, South Korea might be ranked 8th in AFC soon, and a horrible 2002-Saudi style world cup campaign could see them drop out of the top 10 altogether. Talk about nose dive.
ROFL, already expected this after that North American camp. All Asian teams are doing horrendously in the rankings, don't see why you guys are happy about this.
actually this ranking also good for Asian team that competed in WC 2014. they will become underdog and have low pressure than other 'top teams' like greece(rank 12), russia(rank 22) & algeria(rank 26)
World Football Elo Ratings (4 February 2014) 1. 25 Japan 2. 29 Iran 3. 31 Australia 4. 43 South Korea 5. 47 UAE 6. 48 Uzbekistan 7. 58 China 8. 61 North Korea 9. 63 Jordan 10. 69 Oman FIFA World Rankings (February 2014) 1. 38 Iran 2. 50 Japan 3. 53 Australia 4. 57 Uzbekistan 5. 58 UAE 6. 61 South Korea 7. 69 Jordan 8. 75 Saudi Arabia 9. 80 Oman 10. 88 China which one you prefer ?
The ELO rankings have always been more realistic than the FIFA shambles. The above confirms it yet again, although even ELO are under-rating South Korea IMO.
no right now cause of the record korea deserves to drop. but on paper with a full squad only japan rivals us. ppl dont realize that most of these games even the world cup qualifiers korea didnt sent their best players cause of injury or just stupidity.
Not really. Our results have been bad for friendlies. But in terms of talent, the ranking are a lot different.