Australia have remained in 36th place in the FIFA global ranking of national teams as pundits worldwide remained surprised at Iceland's rising star after it became the smallest nation in history to qualify for a World Cup.
In this month's ranking, Iceland climbed two places and ascended to the 18th position, its best rank to date.
The island-nation is set to face Argentina on June 16 at Moscow's Spartak Stadium for the opening salvos of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Meanwhile, Germany once again topped the list with 1602 points and celebrated the fact on the national team's official Twitter account on Thursday with the message: "New year, new FIFA rankings _ and #DieMannschaft are still number one."
At the same time, five-time world champion and perpetual favourite Brazil remained in the second spot, just 118 points behind the Germans, with some betting houses favouring the South American squad's odds at clinching the iconic trophy in Russia.
Portugal, Argentina and Belgium followed in third, fourth and fifth place respectively, while 2010 World Champion Spain continued to occupy the sixth position.
The rise of the "Viking Thunder-Clap" team was the only major change in the upper echelons of the February ranking as few international matches were played last month.
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There were a total of 34 international matches played, of which 28 took place on African soil, all of them friendly, which explains the lack of significant alterations at the top of the latest ranking.
Further down the list, some upward swings were worthy of note, such as Venezuela (48th, +4), Hungary (49th, +5) and Jamaica (50th, +5), putting the three teams within the Top 50.
The next FIFA ranking of national soccer teams is due to be published on March 15.
TOP 20 FIFA RANKING IN FEBRUARY 2018:
1. Germany – 1602
2. Brazil – 1484
3. Portugal – 1358
4. Argentina – 1348
5. Belgium – 1325
6. Spain – 1231
7. Poland – 1213
8. Switzerland – 1190
9. France – 1183
10. Chile – 1153
11. Peru – 1128
12. Denmark – 1099
13. Colombia – 1095
14. Italy – 1052
15. Croatia – 1048
16. England – 1047
17. Mexico – 1034
18. Iceland – 1017
19. Sweden – 996
20. Wales – 985
36. Australia – 737
AAP
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SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
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