Iran’s Team Melli slides nine places in latest FIFA rankings
Iran men's national football team, domestically known as Team Melli, has plunged nine spots in the latest edition of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) rankings to land in the 34th spot in the world, but upheld its position as the best Asian squad.
According to the latest monthly rankings released by the world’s soccer governing body on Monday, the Iranian outfit collected 784 points and defended the title as the top soccer outfit in Asia.
Other Asian teams included Australia, which climbed seven slots in the latest FIFA rankings to sit in the 43rd place with 714 points, followed by the Japanese and Chinese squads, which claimed the 44th and 57th spots respectively with 711 and 626 points.
Germany remains the top-ranked soccer team in the world, with 1,631 points.
Brazil earned 1,619 points to claim the second position, while third-place Portugal garnered 1,446 points. Argentina also maintained its position in the world rankings and stood fourth with 1,445 points.
The sharp drop in Team Melli’s rankings comes as the Iranian team has played only two friendly matches this month as part of preparations for the 2018 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup.
On October 10, Russia held the Iran men’s national football team to a one-all draw at Kazan Arena in the southwestern Russian city of Kazan.
Team Melli had defeated Togo’s Les Eperviers (The Sparrow Hawks) 2-0 in a fixture staged at Azadi Stadium in western Tehran five days earlier.
On June 12, the Iran national football team defeated Uzbekistan 2-0 at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, and became the first Asian team - and the third squad after Brazil and hosts Russia - to secure its place at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Azmoun opened the scoring for the host team in the 23rd minute.
Mehdi Taremi found the back of the net from inside the area in the 88th minute, and finished off the White Wolves.
This is the second time in a row that Team Melli has won the ticket for the FIFA World Cup finals under the tutelage of its 64-year-old Portuguese head coach Carlos Queiroz.
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