Ammon News - AMMAN - The national football team jumped another five spots to 106th when the first FIFA /Coca-Cola World Ranking for 2010 was issued on Wednesday.

It was the second month in which Jordan jumped up the ranking after a 17-spot climb to 111th in December to finish the year at its best ranking in 2009.

Spain leads the pack followed by Brazil, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Germany, France, Argentina, England and Egypt.

Australia remained top Asian team followed by Japan and South Korea, while Egypt is top Arab team followed by Algeria and Tunisia.

Jordan’s lowest rank was 129th in September 2009, after an inconsistent year in both friendlies and Group E qualifiers for the 2011 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup.

In their latest qualifier, Jordan held Thailand to a goalless draw that kept alive qualifying chances ahead of the last return leg match against Singapore on March 3.

Jordan is slated to meet Azerbaijan on February 25 ahead of the Singapore match. In friendlies in the past few months, Jordan beat Zimbabwe 2-0, drew 2-2 with China, 0-0 with Malaysia and 1-1 with Congo, and lost 2-1 to Kuwait, 3-1 to the UAE, 3-1 to New Zealand and 4-0 to Bahrain.

The national team started the qualifiers on a weak note, after being held to a goalless draw against Thailand, losing 2-1 to Singapore and playing Iran twice losing 1-0 in the away game but winning the return Leg 1-0.

The top two teams from each group advance to the 2011 AFC Asian Cup finals in Qatar. The national team reached the Asian Cup finals once in the 13th edition in China in 2004 following which they jumped to the best ever FIFA rank of 37th.

In zonal ranking among AFC teams, the Kingdom is 17th, trailing Australia (23), Japan (40), South Korea (49), Saudi Arabia (59), Bahrain (60), Iran (63), Uzbekistan (75), North Korea (85), Iraq (86), China (87), Qatar (89), Kuwait (92), Oman (93), Thailand (98), Syria (100) and Yemen (105).

Among Arab teams, Jordan is 13th, trailing Egypt (10), Algeria (31), Tunisia (55), Saudi Arabia (59), Bahrain (60), Morocco (65), Iraq (86), Qatar (89), Kuwait (92), Oman (93), Syria (100), and Yemen (105), and leading Sudan (109), the UAE (113), Libya (115), Lebanon (145), Mauritania (161), Palestine (172), Comoros (176), Somalia (179) and Djibouti (193).

Significant climbers were Egypt, after wining the African Cup of Nations, up 14 places to 10th, Malawi, up 17 to 82nd, Gambia up 18 to 98th, Yemen, up 25 to 105th, Tajikistan, up 17 to 148th, and Dominica, up 15 to 182nd.

Biggest droppers were Oman down 14 spots to 93rd, Guinea, down 17 to 90th, Indonesia, down 16 to 136th, Burundi, down 21 to 147th, and Nicaragua, down 29 to 162nd.



By Aline Bannayan/ Jordan Times