[Official] 'Devastating' Current State of Korean Football: 15-Rank Gap with Japan in FIFA Rankings... 4th Overall in Asia

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The gap appears to be widening uncontrollably. While the South Korea national team's FIFA ranking has stagnated at 32nd place, arch-rival Japan has firmly held onto 17th place, widening the gap between the two nations by a staggering 15 ranks.

According to the latest men's football world rankings officially released by FIFA on the 7th (Korean time), South Korea recorded 1,562.49 ranking points, remaining at 32nd place overall with no change from the previous release.

Japan's dominance was prominent among Asian nations. Japan defeated New Zealand 2-1 and went unbeaten (3 wins, 1 draw) in their recent four matches against Uruguay (3-1 win), Venezuela (2-1 win), Ecuador (0-0 draw), and New Zealand (2-1 win), marking 1,684.75 ranking points to maintain 17th place overall. It is the only nation affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to remain in the top 10 range.

South Korea's position within Asia has also narrowed drastically. While Japan firmly held the top spot in Asia at 17th, Iran, which lost 0-2 to Russia, recorded 23rd place (1,597.31 points), one rank lower, securing 2nd in Asia. Australia, which lost 2-4 to Brazil but maintained its points, rose two ranks to 26th place (1,580.52 points) to claim 3rd in Asia.

South Korea at 32nd place remained 4th in Asia. The gap with Japan, the strongest team in Asia, reaches a staggering 15 ranks. China, which suffered historic humiliation by consecutively collapsing at home against Palestine (0-5 loss) and Tajikistan (0-1 loss), plummeted five ranks to 96th place.

In four consecutive A-matches in September and October, South Korea went 2 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss against Ecuador (3-0 win), Uruguay (1-4 loss), Venezuela (0-0 draw), and Uzbekistan (2-0 win). According to FIFA, South Korea gained 5.32 points from the victory over Ecuador but lost 4.37 points due to the heavy defeat against Uruguay. Subsequently, the draw against Venezuela deducted 0.89 points, and the victory over Uzbekistan only recovered 3.70 points. Ultimately, failing to significantly increase points over four matches, South Korea failed to reverse its ranking decline.

The decisive background behind the South Korean football ranking's devastating drop is the worst disaster in history: elimination from the group stage of the 2026 North-Central America World Cup.

South Korea, which maintained 22nd place in the FIFA rankings as recently as January this year, fell to 25th in April and then plummeted a staggering seven ranks in one month in the July release immediately after the North-Central America World Cup, dropping to 32nd place. South Korea's FIFA ranking slipping into the 30s was its lowest rank in 4 years and 7 months since December 2021 (33rd place).

South Korea, led by former coach Hong Myung-bo at the time, started smoothly by defeating Czechia in the first group stage match of the North-Central America World Cup finals. However, they subsequently suffered shocking consecutive losses to Mexico and South Africa, failing to advance to the Round of 32. FIFA ranking points apply different tournament weights per match, with the final stage having an overwhelmingly high weight, resulting in a massive point loss due to the consecutive defeats against Mexico and South Africa.

Just before the World Cup finals, South Korea was running as a solid 3rd place on the Asian stage behind Japan and Iran, aiming for entry into the top two. However, allowing reversals by Japan and Australia, who advanced to the World Cup Round of 32, South Korea tumbled to 4th in Asia.

Meanwhile, Spain firmly defended the world No. 1 spot with 2,011.57 ranking points. Spain added more points by defeating Croatia 2-1. Argentina (1,972.80 points), which crushed Benin 3-0, held 2nd place, France (1,958.86 points), which beat Belgium 4-1, took 3rd, and England (1,925.59 points), which defeated Czechia 3-0, recorded 4th place.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original