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A minnow of international football for so long, the Socceroos have been officially recognised among the world’s elite after their ranking soared to a stunning sixteenth in the latest list published by FIFA.
On the back of qualifying for successive World Cups for the first time, Australia jumped a remarkable 13 places in the monthly list, by far their highest ever ranking.
The Socceroos are now ranked ahead of a host of nations with rich football histories, notably one place ahead of European powerhouse Portugal, who boast arguably the world’s best player Cristiano Ronaldo.
They have also overtaken European big guns Czech Republic and Turkey, South American giants Paraguay and Uruguay, plus every team in Africa.
“We are delighted at this news,” Football Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley said.
“Rankings are not the be all and end all of football but they are certainly an indicator of our progress.
“The more competitive games we play, the greater the opportunity to improve our position in the world rankings and the more match hardened the team becomes.
“This is a great reward for the Socceroos’ form in the qualifying rounds for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
“Once again, we congratulate coach Pim Verbeek and the players for their efforts.”
Australia’s cause was helped by a string of impressive results in June in the final stages of their successful qualification campaign.
A scoreless draw with Qatar in Doha, which sealed their spot for South Africa 2010, was followed by wins against Bahrain and Japan in Australia.
Socceroos players spoke last month about their disappointment at the lack of credit they had been given for their emphatic qualification, but they will take solace in Wednesday’s official FIFA recognition.
Even sweeter for the Socceroos is the fact the Japanese, their biggest Asian rivals, slipped to 40th, leaving them as clearly the best-ranked team in Asia.
Brazil knocked European champions Spain off the top of the rankings following their win at the Confederations Cup, returning to the No.1 spot for the first time since August, 2007.
New Zealand, meanwhile, slipped to the 100th spot after a disappointing showing at the tournament, where they failed to score a goal.
While Australia’s progression from the group stage at the 2006 World Cup in Germany took many by surprise, the latest rankings mean Australia have little hope of flying under the radar heading into next year’s tournament.
Australia will learn their group opponents at the official draw in Cape Town on December 4.
Buckley recently returned from South Africa and said the early signs were encouraging for the tournament.
“We can’t speak highly enough of the facilities we visited, the people we met and the atmosphere generated by local supporters at the games,” he said.
FIFA WORLD RANKINGS FOR JULY, 2009 (movement in parentheses)
1. Brazil (+4)
2. Spain (-1)
3. Netherlands (-1)
4. Italy (0)
5. Germany (-2)
6. Russia (+3)
7. England (-1)
8. Argentina (-1)
9. France (+1)
10. Croatia (-2)
11. Greece (+6)
12. USA (+2)
13. Switzerland (+3)
14. Serbia (+6)
15. Denmark (+9)
16. Australia (+13)
17. Portugal (-6)
18. Cote d’Ivoire (+20)
19. Ukraine (0)
20. Uruguay (-3)Selected
28. Turkey (-16)
30. Gabon (+18)
33. Mexico (-7)
37. Ireland (-3)
38. Egypt (+2)
40. Japan (-9)
48. South Korea (-2)
100. New Zealand (-18)
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