TEHRAN – Iran national football team climbed one spot to make a rare appearance for an Asian team in the top 20 in the latest edition of the FIFA World Ranking.

Iran moved up to 20th place following a 5-0 victory over Syria in Tehran in a friendly match.

Team Melli also drew 1-1 with South Korea at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Tuesday.

Marc Wilmots’s team are preparing for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifications which begins in September.

Japan dropped two spots to 28th while Korea Republic were unchanged at 37th.

Australia moved down two spots to 43rd while AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 winners Qatar were unchanged at 55th.

Belgium, France, Brazil and England are unchanged at the top of the rankings.

There were plenty of success stories elsewhere, too, with the likes of Austria (26th, up 8), Northern Ireland (28th, up 5), Czech Republic (41st, up 7), Hungary (42nd, up 9), Armenia (97th, up 9) and Malaysia (159, up 9) racing up the Ranking. There was also reason to celebrate for Senegal (22nd, up 1) and Kosovo (121st, up 6), both of whom reached their highest position to date.

The next FIFA World Ranking will be published on 25 July 2019.