Hong Myung-bo's team, which defeated Czechia, sees its FIFA ranking 'explode'... soaring by more than 20 points and jumping three spots.

*This content was translated by AI.

The South Korean national football team, which defeated Czechia in the first group stage match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup CONCACAF qualifiers, also achieved a significant result in the real-time FIFA ranking.

According to the real-time FIFA ranking published on the FIFA website on the 12th (Korea time), South Korea accumulated a remarkable 20.92 points from the victory over Czechia, bringing its FIFA ranking points to 1612.55.

As a result, South Korea's real-time ranking, which was 25th in the June FIFA ranking released the previous day, immediately jumped three spots to 22nd.

While still ranking third in Asia behind Japan (18th) and Iran (20th), South Korea has significantly narrowed the gap with the two teams, which had previously been seven and five spots ahead, respectively.

South Korea had accumulated 1.98 FIFA ranking points from its victory over El Salvador in a friendly match on the 4th, but this victory over Czechia brought in more than ten times the points from the El Salvador match all at once.

This is because the fluctuation in FIFA ranking points based on results varies greatly depending on the two teams' rankings (points) and the 'tournament weighting factor'.

Especially, the World Cup is the tournament with the highest weighting factor reflected in the FIFA ranking. Even against the same opponent with the same result, the points from a victory in a friendly match can differ from those in the World Cup.

For example, if South Korea had defeated Czechia in a friendly match during the FIFA A-match period, it would have earned only 4.18 points, but this time, by winning in the World Cup, the point increase rose to 20.92.

Naturally, the real-time FIFA ranking during the World Cup is expected to see a true 'turmoil'. With matches held almost every day and the World Cup nature causing large fluctuations in FIFA ranking points based on each match result, this is further compounded by FIFA recently introducing a new 'real-time ranking' in addition to its periodic ranking releases.

Of course, the fact that the point increase from a victory is much larger compared to a friendly match also means that the points lost in the event of a draw or defeat are equally significant. In fact, Czechia, which lost to South Korea, lost 20.92 points and saw its ranking plummet from 40th to 43rd.

Mexico, also in the same group as South Korea, accumulated 13.5 points with a victory over South Africa, moving up one spot to 13th, while South Africa, conversely, dropped from 60th to 61st. Hong Myung-bo's team, which rose three spots with the victory over Czechia, could also see its ranking drop significantly depending on the results of the remaining two group stage matches.

Hong Myung-bo's team will play the second group stage match against Mexico at 10 a.m. on the 19th in Guadalajara, Mexico, followed by the final group stage match against South Africa at 10 a.m. on the 25th in Monterrey, Mexico. The top two teams from each group, along with the top eight third-placed teams from the 12th groups based on their records, will advance to the round of 16.

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*This content was translated by AI.