Iran’s football woes continued with the announcement of the latest FIFA ranking for December 2012. With the feeble results by Team Melli , a drop in the FIFA ranking was expected, however a 15 places drop is a severe setback.

Iran has dropped to 59the rank in the world just behind Honduras, and ahead of Guinea. Last month and despite not so optimal results , Iran managed to climb up the ranking to 44.

Despite this big drop , Iran still managed to maintain its continental ranking as it remains 4th behind Japan , Australia , Korea Republic and just ahead of the fast advancing Uzbekistan which occupies the 5th place in Asia.

After the loss against Uzbekistan , it was hoped that Team Melli will recover by making a successful appearance in WAFF 2012, a tournament that Iran has won 4 times, However , Iran ended its campaign early and was knocked out by Bahrain hence failing to go beyond the group stages for the first time in the history of this competition.

FIFA ranking , is a monthly list issued by FIFA based on the results of official matches between the member countries at full level. The computerized ranking is weighted and has different factors for important matches and stronger oppositions.