In the early hours of October 21, the international soccer governing body unveiled the latest men's national team rankings through the end of October 2021 on its official website. In this list, the Chinese national team, under the command of Li Tie, has shrunk in points, down to 1,334.2 points, holding on to the 75th place in the overall list, and the ninth position in the Asian region as well. Nonetheless, Iran remains firmly at the top of the Asian standings, while Belgium continues to hold the top spot in the overall standings.
In the most recent points cycle, China participated in the Round of 12 Asian Qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar under Li Tie, winning their first victory in the Round of 12 stage with a close 3-2 win over Vietnam in Sharjah, UAE, but then fell to Saudi Arabia in Jeddah, 2-3, with a win and a loss resulting in a reduction of 0.32 points in China's points tally.
Despite the unchanged overall ranking, China remains ninth within the Asian region, with 12 fewer points than Iraq and 19.84 more than tenth-placed Oman.
In the Asian Football Confederation's rankings, Iran rose 6.94 points to continue to lead the way with 1,545.02 points. Japan, on the other hand, lost 2.77 points to Saudi Arabia during the same period and slipped to 28th overall, still ranked second in Asia. Other top-ranked teams include Australia, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with Saudi Arabia managing to make it into the top 50 by adding 25.87 points to their total ranking to 49th after back-to-back wins over Japan and China.
In the overall world standings, Belgium continues to lead the way with 1832.33 points, followed by Brazil with 1820.36 points. England dropped two places to fifth, while France and Italy moved up one place to take the third and fourth positions respectively.
According to FIFA's official website, a total of 160 International A matches were played across the globe in the latest points cycle. India and Nepal both participated in five matches, the most number of teams. Indonesia gained 28.56 points and was the team that gained the most points, while Indonesia and New Zealand moved up 10 places each to be the teams that gained the most places. Chinese Taipei, on the other hand, lost 28.56 points and had the most deductions, while Northern Ireland slipped 11 places to become the worst performer of the cycle.FIFA's next release of the men's national team rankings is scheduled for November 25th.
