Brazil still leader in FIFA rankings, Iran two spots above

IRNA - World Cup-winning Brazil has extended its lead over France at the top of the FIFA rankings list and Iran found itself two places above, according to the latest table issued by world soccer`s governing body Wednesday.
Brazil`s victories this month over Ecuador and Colombia have helped it stretch the lead over its closest European rival to 26 points, with Spain maintaining third place.
France now leads Spain by 62 points after the European champion beat Slovenia and Cyprus to record seven successive wins in their Euro 2004 qualifying group.
Argentina has moved up two places after beating Venezuela and drawing with Chile and now sits in fourth ahead of Mexico.
England has also moved up two places to sixth after September victories over Macedonia and Liechtenstein.
Netherlands dropped three places to seventh after losing 3-1 to the Czech Republic, which itself rose three places to joint ninth with Germany after maintaining it unbeaten record in it Euro 2004 qualifying group.
The biggest mover of the month was Bolivia, which rose 20 places to 94th, and Bosnia, which rose 19 places to 58th after Euro 2004 qualifying wins over Norway and Luxembourg.
Iran stood third in Asia and 45th in the world with 579 points, moving up two places in comparison with the previous month.
Japan and South Korea are in the first and second places among the Asian teams and ranked 24th and 39th in the world with 637 and 610 points respectively.
Leading FIFA rankings issued on Wednesday (August`s position in brackets) come below:
1. (1) Brazil 855 points
2. (2) France 829
3. (3) Spain 767
4. (6) Argentina 750
5. (4=) Mexico 746
6. (8) England 745
7. (4=) Netherlands 744
8. (7) Turkey 743
9= (12) Czech Republic 736
9= (10) Germany 736
11. (9) United States 731
12. (11) Italy 726
13. (13=) Cameroon 710
14= (13=) Ireland 708
14= (15) Denmark 708
16. (18) Belgium 692
17. (16) Portugal 687
18. (20) Sweden 684
19. (17) Costa Rica 681
20. (19) Romania 663
Rankings of the first eight Asian teams (world rankings in
brackets) are as follows:
1. Japan (24) 637 points
2. South Korea (39) 610
3. Iran (45) 579
4. Saudi Arabia (49) 559
5. Thailand (68) 519
6. Iraq (75) 503
7. China (77) 502
8. Jordan (78) 496
FIFA`s standings are based on a statistical analysis of countries`
results over eight years, weighted according to how recently the
matches were played, the strength of the opponents, and the importance
of each match.