TEHRAN – Iran national futsal team moved up to fourth place in the first FIFA Futsal Men’s World Ranking.

Brazil sit at the summit of the ranking. Portugal pipped Spain to second spot, while Iran and Argentina complete the top five. It means those five nations, along with hosts Uzbekistan, will be the Pot 1 seeds in the upcoming draw for this year’s FIFA Futsal World Cup.

Pot 2 will comprise Morocco, Kazakhstan, Thailand, France, Ukraine and Paraguay. New Zealand (19th) and Costa Rica (31st) are the highest-positioned nations from the OFC and Concacaf regions respectively.

Brazil have been on fire since bagging bronze at the last global finals in 2021. They registered back-to-back victories away to Spain last year, and recaptured the Futsal Copa America crown from Argentina in February.

Portugal won Lithuania 2021, the last two UEFA Futsal EUROs and the first Futsal Finalissima.

Spain, the two-time global kings, lost close games to Portugal at the last world and European finals, but have registered positive friendly results in recent years, including a 6-0 win over their Iberian rivals.

Iran finished third at Colombia 2016, famously eliminating Brazil en route, and are fresh from an AFC Futsal Asian Cup triumph. In Asghar Hassanzadeh, Moslem Oladghobad and Hossein Tayyebi, Vahid Shamsaei has three of best players in the world in their respective positions.