Iran’s two recent blowout victories appear to have motivated the huge upgrade. In the last month, Iran defeated Palestine 7-0 and Bahrain 6-0.
Iran remains fourth in Asia. The three teams above Iran all slipped one or two slots down the world rankings while Iran rose eight slots in the September rankings.
The top four teams in Asia are far ahead of fifth ranked China, which used to be ranked abysmally low but has been climbing recently. At the same time, Saudi Arabia, which used to be among the best in Asia, has slid into 11th place in the latest monthly ranking.
Here are the top 10 teams in Asia with their global ranking and number of points scored by the FIFA computer:
17 Japan 924
20 Australia 868
31 South Korea 754
42 Iran 626
70 China 463
73 Uzbekistan 452
81 Jordan 428
91 Iraq 379
92 Qatar 371
96 Kuwait 350
