Hong Kong climbed three places to 153rd in the latest FIFA men’s world rankings following their title-winning run at the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup’s second-tier competition.
The SAR side now has 1,035.23 ranking points and sits 30th in Asia.
The rise came after Hong Kong lifted the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Challenge Cup at Kai Tak Stadium last week, completing an unbeaten campaign with victories over Laos, Brunei Darussalam and Cambodia.
Hong Kong opened their campaign with a 4-0 win over Laos before beating Brunei 2-0 to reach the final. They then defeated Cambodia 2-0 at Kai Tak Stadium to claim the title.
China, meanwhile, fell five places to 96th in the world after recording one win and three defeats at a recent international invitational tournament in Chongqing.
The national side beat the Maldives 3-0 but suffered a 3-0 defeat to New Zealand, a 5-0 loss to Palestine and a 1-0 defeat to Tajikistan. The slide leaves China 15th in Asia and at its lowest world ranking in nearly a decade.
Japan remain Asia’s highest-ranked side at No. 17 in the world.
There was little change at the top of the global standings, with Spain retaining first place ahead of Argentina, France and England.
Portugal climbed two spots to fifth, followed by Brazil, Morocco, Belgium, the Netherlands and Mexico to complete the top 10.
