Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Wihdat leaped 123 spots to 94th in the latest top 400 club rankings of the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS).

Wihdat are the top Arab team among Asian clubs, second Arab team overall and fifth in Asia. Compatriots Faisali jumped from 357th place to 296th.

After eliminating Iraq’s Duhok in the quarters, Wihdat lost the Leg 1 semifinal of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup 1-0 to Uzbekistan’s Nasaf Qarshi on Tuesday. They will host the return leg on October 18.

In the past five seasons, Jordanian teams dominated the AFC Cup, a second-tier Asian club competition, with Faisali winning titles in 2005 and 2006, and Shabab Urdun in 2007.

Wihdat had another impressive season last year when they grabbed all four major local titles they first combined in the 2008/09 season. As the current season kicked off, Wihdat won the Cup Winner’s Cup but conceded the Jordan Football Association Shield to Faisali.

Spain’s FC Barcelona top the list of the IFFHS ranking, followed by Spain’s Real Madrid, England’s Manchester United, Portugal’s FC Porto, Germany’s FC Schalke, Argentina’s CA Velez Sarsfield, Germany’s Bayern Munich, Italy’s FC Internazionale Milan, England’s Manchester City and Chile’s CD Universidad Santiago.

Sudan’s Hilal Umdurman are the top ranked Arab team at 84th place. They are followed in the top 10 by Wihdat (94), Tunisia’s Esperance (103), Morocco’s Fes (132) and Wydad Casablanca (134), Egypt’s Ahli Cairo (148), Saudi Arabia’s Hilal (156), Algeria’s Jeunesse Kabilie (162), Morocco’s Rabat (170) and Egypt’s Zamalek (181),

The top Asian spot is held by South Korea’s Suwon Samsung Blue-Wings FC at 46th, followed by South Korea’s CB Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (70) and FC Seoul (84), Japan’s Kashima Antlers FC (88) and Gamba Osaka (91), Wihdat (94), Iran’s Sepahan Isfahan (100), Japan’s Cerezo (112), Iran’s Zobahan Isfahan (116) and Uzbekistan’s Nasaf Qarshi (134).

Initiated in 1991, the Club World Ranking is a classification showing the level of the clubs and the level of international performance for each country. Competitions not organised by a continental confederation, or any intercontinental events not recognised by FIFA, are not taken into consideration.


Jordan Times