Jordan drops to 97th

By Aline Bannayan - Feb 12,2015 - Last updated at Feb 12,2015

AMMAN — Jordan dropped four spots to 97th in the latest FIFA World Rankings issued on Thursday.

Jordan trails Iran (41), South Korea (54), Japan (55), Australia (63), the UAE (66), Uzbekistan (71), China (82), Oman (91) and Iraq (94) among Asian teams.

The latest drop came following Jordan’s elimination from the first round of the 16th Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup in Australia. The hosts shot up 37 places to 63rd after winning the title, runners-up South Korea went up 15 spots, third place finishers UAE went up 14 places and fourth place finishers Iraq 20 spots. Quarter-finalists Iran went up 10 places to take top Asian spot, while China went up 14 places.

The top 10 are Germany, Argentina, Columbia, Belgium, Netherlands, Brazil, Portugal, France, Uruguay and Spain.

Led by head coach Ray Wilkins, Jordan failed to repeat its quarter-final qualification in 2004 and 2011. Jordan lost 2-0 to defending champions Japan, 1-0 to Iraq and only saved face when substitute striker Hamza Dardour ended an 11-match unbeaten run and scored four goals in its 5-1 win over Palestine.

Since first taking part in the Asian Cup qualifiers in 1971, it was Jordan’s third time at the Asian Cup finals. The best performance was at the 13th Asian Cup in 2004, where it lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA rank of 37th. Jordan did not play in the 2007 finals and reached the quarters again in 2011.

Jordan’s FIFA monthly rank

Month	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007
January	93	72	95	81	107	-	126	112	94
February	97	69	92	82	84	106	126	111	85
March		66	90	83	80	106	127	106	81
April		64	76	81	92	102	127	105	80
May		64	77	81	93	103	127	104	82
June		63	75	80	83	104	126	100	87
July		57	76	84	91	98	122	114	98
August		56	71	83	92	98	122	114	99
Sept.		69	73	87	85	99	129	113	99
October		74	70	78	81	95	128	112	111
Nov.		86	70	90	82	95	128	118	122
Dec.		81	65	94	82	104	111	124	120