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‘The Hong Myung-Bo Effect’

September 12, 2013

Korean Soccer’s FIFA World Ranking Drops to 58th After Another Loss
Korea’s Current Ranking is Lowest in More Than 6 Years

Korean national team's manager Hong Myung-Bo, who doesn't have whole lot to smile about these days, left to England on Friday to check up on Park Chu-Young and Ki Sung-yueung.

Korean national team manager Hong Myung-Bo, who doesn’t have whole lot to smile about these days, left for England on Friday to check up on Park Chu-Young and Ki Sung-yueung.

Korea dropped another two spots to No. 58 in September’s FIFA world rankings, the lowest the national soccer team has been ranked since June 2007.

The United State, meanwhile, moved up six notches, to No. 12, their highest ranking since July 2010.

Korean soccer has now fallen to 5th in Asia, behind Japan (No. 42 overall), Iran (48), Australia (53), and Uzbekistan (57).

The last time Korea’s FIFA ranking fell this low was more than six years ago. Since the birth of FIFA rankings in 1993, the lowest Korea has ever been rated was No. 62 in February 1996.  Korea is only 4 spots away from an all-time historical low.

The latest rankings no doubt reflect Korea’s struggle to win  - the team has won only one of the six matches they’ve played since Myung-Bo Hong took over the reins.

There’s currently no Asian team in the top 40.

On the other hand, the U.S. is on the verge of cracking the top 10. After falling to No. 32 back in July and August of last year, Jurgen Klinsmann’s squad has rebounded well in just one year.

Overall, Spain held on to the top stop for the 25th consecutive month and Argentina moved up two spots to second, followed by Germany, Italy, and Columbia.

Belgium, Uruguay, Brazil, Netherlands, and Croatia rounded out the top 10.

The FIFA rankings may play a crucial role when determining the top 8 seeds and beyond for the drawing scheduled on December 6th. Korea currently is the lowest ranked team to have qualified for the World Cup.