On October 21, 2021, the official website of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) unveiled the latest edition of the men's soccer team national rankings. China's soccer team, coached by Li Tie, saw a small drop of 0.32 points in scoring, remaining in 75th place in the overall rankings, and maintaining its 9th position in the Asian Confederation standings. Iran holds on to the top spot in the Asian League, while Belgium continues to occupy the top spot in the overall rankings.
In the most recent scoring cycle, China's soccer team under Li Tie participated in two 2022 Qatar World Cup Asian Qualifiers Round of 12 matches, a narrow 3-2 win over Vietnam in Sharjah, UAE, to earn their first win in the Round of 12, followed by a 2-3 defeat against Saudi Arabia in Jeddah.
With one win and one loss, our soccer team has lost 0.32 points and currently has 1,334.2 points. Although the overall ranking remains unchanged at 75th and the Asian League ranking at 9th, our soccer team currently has 12 points less than Iraq, who are ahead of them, and 19.84 points more than Oman, who are in the 10th position.
In the Asian League standings, Iran has increased its points by 6.94 to remain in the lead with 1,545.02 points. Japan, on the other hand, also lost to Saudi Arabia in the current scoring cycle and lost 2.77 points, slipping two places to 28th in the overall rankings, but still in second place in Asia.
Also ranked ahead of our soccer team are Australia, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iraq. The Saudis managed to break into the top 50 with their latest overall ranking of 49th after gaining 25.87 points and moving up seven places in the overall rankings following back-to-back wins over Japan and China.
In the overall standings, Europe's Red Devils Belgium continue to lead the way with 1832.33 points, followed by Brazil with 1820.36 after adding 8.63 points. England dropped two places to fifth, while France and Italy moved up one place each to take the third and fourth spots respectively.
According to FIFA's official website, a total of 160 International A matches were played around the world in the latest scoring cycle. India and Nepal, which played five matches each, were the teams with the highest number of matches, while Indonesia, with an increase of 28.56 points, was the team that gained the most points. Indonesia and New Zealand have improved by 10 places each and are the teams with the greatest improvement in ranking. Chinese Taipei, with a decrease of 28.56 points, had the most points deducted, and Northern Ireland slipped 11 places to become the team with the most significant regression in this scoring cycle. FIFA's next release of national rankings for men's soccer teams is scheduled for November 25th.
