MNA - According to the latest FIFA world ranking, the national Iranian football team has remained as the best team in Asia above Australia and Japan as well as the AFC Asian Cup champion Qatar.
According to the AFC Asian Cup website, the Islamic Republic of Iran remained as the Continent's highest ranked team while AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 champions Qatar moved up 38 spots in the latest FIFA World Ranking released on Thursday.
Iran's record of four wins and a draw in UAE 2019 helped them stay on top, despite Team Melli's losing 3-0 to Japan in the semi-finals.
Qatar improved to 55th place, just missing out on their best ever FIFA World Ranking of 53. Qatar's improvement was expected as six of the seven teams they defeated en route to winning the AFC Asian Cup title were recorded against sides who were ranked higher than the Maroons going into UAE 2019.
Japan, whose bid for a fifth AFC Asian Cup title was thwarted by Qatar in the final, also saw a surge in their ranking as they improved by 23 spots to 27 to sit behind Iran, who improved by seven to move up to 22nd. Japan registered six wins in UAE 2019 and the points earned saw them move up as the Continent's second highest ranked team.
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The Korea Republic, shown the exit by Qatar in the quarter-finals, improved to 38 from 53 while Australia, whose defense of the AFC Asian Cup title ended in the quarter-finals, dropped by one to 42.
The United Arab Emirates' run to the semi-finals of the AFC Asian Cup improved their ranking by 12 to 67 while Saudi Arabia dropped by one to 70. China PR (72), Iraq (80) and Syria (83) complete the Asian top 10.