TEHRANTIMES - According to the latest FIFA ranking released on Wednesday, Iran's soccer moved seven places up.

Iran rose to 45th place with 596 points.

The Persians defeated Uzbekistan 1-0 on Saturday in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

Iranian soccer team still stays at fourth place among the Asian teams. Japan remains the best Asian team with 822 points followed by Australia 820 and South Korea 719.

World and European champions Spain extended its lead atop of the FIFA World Ranking with 1456 points as Uruguay unseated Germany to go second and reach its highest-ever position on the global ladder.

A total of 115 matches have been taken into account for the current edition of the FIFA World Ranking, 28 of which were Brazil 2014 qualifiers and the remaining 87 friendlies.