Publish Date: 15 March 2014 - 14:34

Iran moved four places down in the latest FIFA World rankings released on Thursday.

Iran went down four spot to 42nd but maintained the top spot in Asia above Japan and Uzbekistan. Australia has slipped 10 places in the rankings.

Spain is still at the number one spot as Germany and Argentina occupy the second and third positions respectively.

The FIFA world rankings are determined by points awarded from match results in a three-year period, with more recent games given greater weight. Teams get additional points for playing relatively strong opponents.

Of the 67 matches taken into account, 57 were friendlies. The other 10 games were AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, which brings the total number of matches evaluated so far this year to 122.

The next FIFA World Ranking will be published on 10 April 2014.