Qatar climb 38 places in FIFA world rankings following Asian Cup win
Thursday 7 February 2019 11:01, UK
Qatar have moved up to 55th in the FIFA world rankings following their victory at the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
The 2022 World Cup host won all seven of their matches at the continental championships, beating four-time winners Japan 3-1 in the final and conceding only one goal in the tournament.
Wins over Saudi Arabia, Iraq and South Korea on the way to the final helped their ranking jump from 93 to 55.
However, the Qataris are still only the fifth-highest ranked team in the Asian Football Confederation, behind Iran (22nd), Japan (27th), South Korea (38th) and Australia (42nd).
There were no changes to the top 20 due to a lack of fixtures involving European and South American teams, so Belgium remain the world's number one ranked side, ahead of World Cup winners France in second and Brazil in third.
England stay in fifth, behind World Cup finalists Croatia. Wales remain in 19th, the Republic of Ireland drop one place to 34th, Northern Ireland drop one spot to 36th and Scotland move down two places to 40th.
