The South Korea national football team, led by Hong Myung-bo, ranked 23rd in the International Football Federation (FIFA) rankings released for the first time this year.
The team, coached by Hong Myung-bo, recorded the same 23rd place in the first world ranking of the year announced by FIFA on the 3rd (Korean time) as the final ranking of 2024 announced in December last year. The team also started last year at 23rd and fluctuated between 22nd and 23rd.
The team played the third qualifying round of the 2026 International Football Federation (FIFA) North and Central America World Cup against Oman on the 20th of last month and Jordan on the 25th. However, both matches ended in a 1-1 draw, resulting in a score of 1574.93 points, which is 10.52 points lower than the 1585.45 points recorded in December last year. The confirmation of advancement to the World Cup finals has also been pushed back to June.
Among the countries belonging to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), South Korea ranked third. The first place was Japan, which ranked 15th overall, and the second place was Iran, ranked 18th. Following them were Australia at 26th, Qatar at 55th, Uzbekistan at 57th, Saudi Arabia at 58th, and Iraq at 59th.
Additionally, China fell 4 places from 90th to 94th, and Vietnam, coached by Kim Sang-sik, climbed 5 places to rank 109th. North Korea dropped 3 places to 118th. Indonesia, where Shin Tae-yong was dismissed and Patrick Kluivert took over as the new coach, jumped 4 places to rank 123rd.
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