Spain top FIFA rankings, Saudi 58th after World Cup

DUBAI: The Saudi Arabian national football team have jumped three places in the FIFA World Rankings, which were announced this week following the World Cup.

Spain, who beat Argentina 1-0 on Sunday to claim their second World Cup triumph, climbed to top spot.

The Saudi team are now in 58th place globally, and fifth in Asia. The highest-ranked nations from the Asian Football Federation are Japan in 17th, Iran (22nd), Australia (28th), and South Korea (32nd).

Qatar (59), Uzbekistan (60), Iraq (63), the UAE (68), and Jordan (73) all dropped in the rankings.

Behind Spain in the rankings come losing finalists Argentina in second place, France in third, England in fourth, and Brazil in fifth.

Morocco have secured sixth place, their best-ever ranking, after their recent World Cup appearance was ended in the quarterfinals by France. Portugal fell two places to seventh, followed by Belgium in eighth, the Netherlands in ninth, and Mexico in 10th.

After reaching the World Cup quarterfinals, Norway achieved the biggest jump in the rankings, climbing 12 places to 19th. Tunisia suffered the worst drop of any team, falling 12 places to 57th.

Egypt’s performance at the World Cup propelled them to 24th place, while Panama dropped to 44th. The Democratic Republic of Congo came in at 41st, and Cape Verde climbed three places to 64th.

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