"Korea's No. 1 Asia is also seen." Japan's January FIFA ranking is confirmed to fall, with a "three-step difference."

*This content was translated by AI.

The Japanese national soccer team's first FIFA rankings this year will drop one place from last month. The gap between Korea and Japan will now be narrowed by three steps.

According to Cambio De Huago, a media outlet that compiles FIFA rankings in real-time on the 7th, Senegal accumulated 8.31 FIFA ranking points in the process of advancing to the quarterfinals of the African Football Confederation (CAF) Africa Cup of Nations. The real-time score is 1656.38 points.

Senegal has risen from 19th to 17th, beating Japan (1650.12 points) and Switzerland (1654.69 points), which did not have an A-match during the same period. Senegal has advanced to the quarterfinals of the African Cup of Nations, and the FIFA ranking has secured 17th place in January's FIFA rankings, which will be announced on the 19th, as points will not be reduced even if they lose the tournament alone.

As the ranking was reversed by Senegal, Japan was confirmed to fall one place from 18th to 19th last month. Japan's FIFA ranking, which once rose to 15th in April last year, fell to 17th in July and 19th in September, then rose one notch to 18th in November last year, and remained at 18th, the highest in Asia, in December. However, in this year's first FIFA rankings, it became inevitable to fall back in the rankings.

Japan's decline in the rankings has increased the likelihood that Asian teams will be ranked 19th in the FIFA rankings in January, Iran 20th and South Korea 22nd. The gap between Korea and "Asia's No. 1" Japan will be reduced by three steps. South Korea's FIFA ranking has maintained its 23rd place from November 2024 to September last year, and after rising one notch to 22nd place in October, it has maintained its 23rd place until last month.

Of course, Korea's FIFA ranking point is 1599.45, which is more than 50 points apart from Japan, so it is difficult to reverse the ranking at once. However, depending on the results of the A match in March and the results of the warm-up match in May and June, just before the World Cup, the possibility of South Korea overtaking Japan to rank No. 1 in the Asian FIFA rankings cannot be ruled out. For this, Iran also has to beat Iran, but Iran is in sight with only about 18 FIFA ranking points with South Korea, falling to 21st place at one point in October last year.

Meanwhile, South Africa, which belongs to Group A of the 2026 FIFA North American World Cup, was eliminated from the round of 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations, but the FIFA ranking is expected to rise one notch from 61st to 60th by accumulating 6.03 points during the group stage. Another World Cup opponent, Mexico, remains in 15th place, while Denmark (21st), Czech Republic (44th), Ireland (59th), and North Macedonia (66th), which belong to the UEFA playoff pass D, remain unchanged as of the 6th.

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*This content was translated by AI.