TEHRAN – Iran’s national 
football team moved up one place in the latest FIFA World Ranking issued on Thursday.
Japan maintained its position as Asia’s top side above Iran.
Iran, enjoying a smooth qualifying campaign for the FIFA World Cup ‘26, is now second in Asia after moving one spot up to the 18th place in the world.
Korea Republic and Australia dropped one and two spots respectively to the 23rd and 26th places.
Qatar, who is enduring a difficult AFC Asian Qualifiers - Road to 26 campaign, dropped two spots to the 48th.
Iraq, Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia remained unchanged at the 56th, 58th and 59th places, respectively.
The United Arab Emirates moved up five spots to 63 with Jordan rounding off Asia’s top 10 at 64.
Indonesia, who stunned Saudi Arabia 2-0 in their AFC Asian Qualifiers - Road to 26 Group C tie, also moved up five spots to 125.
The next FIFA World Ranking will be issued on December 12.