Australia

Australia Achieve Highest FIFA Ranking In History At No. 16

The Socceroos are at the peak of their powers after a highly successful qualifying campaign.

Jul 2, 2009 4:05:55 AM

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Australia are ranked 16th in world football following the release of FIFA's latest rankings yesterday.

It is the highest Australia have ever been placed in the international ratings system, which ranks the 203 member nations of world football's governing body.

"We are delighted at this news," said Football Federation Australia (FFA) CEO Ben Buckley.

"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 Pim Verbeek and the players for their efforts."

The Socceroos became the second team to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup (excluding the host nation) in early June, and finished the fourth stage of qualification with six wins and two draws against strong rivals Japan, Qatar, Bahrain and Uzbekistan.

Buckley said he had recently returned from a brief trip to South Africa and that it will be a "fantastic" 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.

Thirty-two countries compete in the FIFA World Cup, which will take place in South Africa from June 11 - July 11 next year.

Australia will know their opponents in the group stage at the Final Draw in Cape Town on December 4.

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