Iran drops eight spots in FIFA ranking

PTV - Iran has dropped eight places to 45th in the latest FIFA ranking to stand third among the Asian teams following Japan and Australia.

Japan also dropped one spot in FIFA's June ranking, but did not lose its top position in Asia while Australia moved up two places taking Iran's spot in the second place. Saudi Arabia and South Korea stood in the fourth and fifth place in Asia.

Spain has remained top of the list while Germany jumped one spot to replace Italy in the second place. The Netherlands, Croatia, Brazil, Argentina, Czech and Portugal rank fourth to ninth.

Russia, which beat the Netherlands to reach the Euro 2008 semifinals moved one spot forward to rank 10th. It is the first time since October 1997 that Russia is placed in the top 10 of the FIFA rankings.