TEHRAN – Iran’s women’s futsal team are eighth in the first FIFA Futsal World Ranking released on Monday.

FIFA has launched the official FIFA Futsal World Ranking with powerhouses Brazil the first number-one nation in both the men’s and women’s charts as the rapidly growing sport takes another major step forward.

Team Melli are eighth in the ranking, above Japan and Italy.

Brazil sit top, followed by Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Colombia, Thailand and Russia.

Although the FIFA Men’s World Ranking for football has existed since December 1992 and women’s senior national football teams have been officially ranked by FIFA since 2003, that has not previously been the case for futsal. However, the indoor game has enjoyed exponential growth in recent years and this milestone moment represents the natural next step, as well as being the first time that FIFA men’s and women’s rankings have been launched concurrently.