Bento’s Boys climb to No. 37 in FIFA world ranking

Korea moved up one spot to take 37th place in the latest FIFA rankings, unveiled by FIFA on Thursday, following their two international friendly wins last month.

[YONHAP]

Korea, coached by Paulo Bento, earned 1,462 points, up 11 points from February, to reach 37th in the April men’s football rankings. In the February rankings, the Taeguk Warriors shared 38th place with Iceland.

Bento’s side edged out Bolivia 1-0 and beat Colombia 2-1 in their friendly matches at home last month. Colombia was placed 12th in the April FIFA rankings, while Bolivia reached No. 63.

Korea remained the third-highest ranked team in the Asian Football Confederation, behind Iran (No. 21) and Japan (No. 26). Australia followed Korea at No. 41, while the reigning AFC Asian Cup winner, Qatar, took the No. 55 spot. North Korea was ranked at No. 121.

Belgium, France and Brazil kept their top three positions in the April FIFA rankings. England swapped places with Croatia, moving from fifth to fourth.

Yonhap