Port 2 Confirmed FIFA Official Revealed November Rankings, Maintaining 22nd Place in Hong Myung-bo...Japan, Iran rise 1 spot → Australia fall 1 spot

Nov 20, 2025

Hong Myung-bo looking at the players

(Cheonan = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Joon-beom = Hong Myung-bo, head coach of the national soccer team, is looking at the players training at the Korea Football Center in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, on the afternoon of the 10th. 2025.11.10

A match warm-up match between South Korea and Bolivia held at Daejeon World Cup Stadium on the 14th. Son Heung-min scored the first free kick goal and is sharing his joy. Daejeon = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.11.14/

A warm-up match between Korea and Ghana at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 18th. Lee Kang-in is rushing toward the Ghana goalkeeper. Sangam = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.11.18/

Hong Myung-bo, who ended the A-match with two consecutive wins in November, maintained his 22nd place in the FIFA rankings and confirmed his entry into the '2nd port' for the first time in Korean soccer history.

FIFA announced its new ranking on the 20th (Korea time). Hong Myung-bo defeated Bolivia 2-0 on the 14th and Ghana 1-0 on the 18th. The results of the two consecutive A matches in November were reflected.

South Korea ranked 22nd last month. Ranking points were 1599.45, up 5.53 points from October (1593.92 points). Japan, which won two games alongside Hong Myung-bo, moved up one spot from 19th to 18th. The ranking point is 1650.12 points.

Iran, ranked second in Asia, also jumped one notch from 21st to 20th (1617.02 points). Australia, on the other hand, fell from 25th to 26th (1574.01 points).

'Top 10' also had cracks. Brazil rose from seventh to fifth, with Spain, Argentina, France and England remaining first to fourth. Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Croatia were ranked 6th to 10th. Italy, which fell into the play-off (PO) abyss, fell three places from ninth to 12th.

Although detailed plans have not been disclosed, the FIFA ranking in November is certain to be reflected in the draw for the 2026 North Korea-China World Cup. FIFA said only that `this ranking will help draw a match between the North-China World Cup playoff tournament (intercontinental PO) and the European PO at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland on the 20th.' It did not specifically mention how the ranking will be used at the North American World Cup draw, including the allocation of ports for teams that will advance to the finals through PO.

A match warm-up match between South Korea and Bolivia held at Daejeon World Cup Stadium on the 14th. Cho Kyu-sung scored his team's second goal in the second half and is delighted with Kim Min-jae. Daejeon = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.11.14/

EPA Yonhap News

The draw ceremony for the North Korea-China World Cup, which has increased from 32 countries to 48, will be held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on the 6th of next month. South Korea's FIFA ranking in November is the 20th of the 42 countries that have been confirmed to advance to the finals.

In the group stage, four teams will be in 12 groups. Based on the FIFA rankings, 48 countries that advanced to the finals are expected to be divided into four ports. The U.S. (16th), Mexico (14th), and Canada (28th) will be assigned to the No. 1 port as host countries. The teams ranked 1st to 9th in the FIFA rankings will join to form the No. 1 port. The top 12 of the remaining countries fill port 2.

The U.S. (14th), Mexico (15th), Canada (27th), and Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany, which are ranked 1st to 9th in the FIFA rankings, will be in the top port.

Port 2 will be assigned to Croatia (10th), Morocco (11th), Colombia (13th), Uruguay (16th), Switzerland (17th), Japan, Senegal (19th), Iran, South Korea, Ecuador (23rd), Austria (24th). Italy and Denmark (21st), which have higher FIFA rankings than South Korea, failed to win direct tickets to North Korea and China.

Korean soccer has never been in the second port in the World Cup finals draw. Since Korea cannot be in the same group with the same port team in the finals, Korea will be able to avoid strong teams such as Croatia and Morocco.

Port No. 3 includes Norway (29th), Panama (30th), Egypt (34th), Algeria (35th), Scotland (36th), Paraguay (39th), Tunisia (40th), Ivory Coast (42nd), Uzbekistan (50th), Qatar (51st), Saudi Arabia (60th) and South Africa (61st).

Countries with Jordan (66th), Cabo Verde (68), Ghana (72nd), Curaçao (82nd), Haiti (84th), and New Zealand (86th) are expected to be located in port 4 through PO.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.