Pakistan has leapt up 21 places within eight months and stood at 156th rank in the latest FIFA World Ranking. Because only around 30 matches were taken into account for the final FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking of the year, there was no change at the top, with Spain continuing to lead the way ahead of Brazil and the Netherlands.
The Iberians once again take the crown of Team of the Year, as their surprise defeat to the USA at the FIFA Confederations Cup was the only blemish on an otherwise perfect record in the 16 matches they played. The heroics of George Kottan's men, which have overtaken several top nations of the world and closed the gap against their archrivals India.
Pakistan was far behind as compared to India when Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat earned chair of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF)'s President in late August 2003. Indians were at 133rd as compared to Pakistan's 160th, a difference of 27 places, on that occasion six years ago, but after dynamic works of PFF Chief, the disparity between two South Asian nations has resulted as India stands at 134th rank.
The beginning of the year 2009 saw Pakistan at 165th and they went further down to 177th on 8 April but returned back to respectable berth, lifting themselves to 156th on 16 December 2006 - a fine recovery within eight months. Pakistan will begin 2010 with FIFA ranking above Malaysia, which is also headquarter of AFC, Madagascar, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Chinese Taipei, Niger, Tajikistan, Palestine, Cambodia and Mauritius etc.
"The first newly-styled FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking was published on 12 July 2006. FIFA have acknowledged the need for a substantial revision and their experts have come up with a satisfactory solution for a new way of calculating the ranking," stated Faisal who congratulated officials and players for their display at Dhaka and memorable 7-0 win over Bhutan - the second biggest in the history of regional soccer.