FIFA rankings continue to make dismal reading for Asia

BERNE (Reuters) - The FIFA rankings continued to make dismal reading for Asia with only two teams, Iran and Japan, in the top 50 of September's list which was published on Thursday.

Iran, Asia's top-ranked team were a modest 44th, while Japan were four places below them. They were followed by Uzbekistan in 58th and South Korea a further five places adrift.

World champions Germany stayed top of the table, followed by World Cup runners up Argentina with Colombia in third and Netherlands fourth. Albania leapt up 25 places to 46th after their shock 1-0 win away to Portugal in the Euro 2016 qualifiers. Portugal stayed 11th despite the defeat which cost Paulo Bento his job.

Brazil's friendly wins over Colombia and Ecuador, in their first two games under new coach Dunga, took them up one place to sixth.

(last month's positions in brackets)

1. Germany (1)

2. Argentina (2)

3. Colombia (4)

4. Netherlands (3)

5. Belgium (5)

6. Brazil (7)

7. Uruguay (6)

8. Spain (7)

9. France (10)

10. Switzerland (9)

(Reporting by Brian Homewood, editing by Alan Baldwin)