Australia has jumped nine spots to 33 on FIFA's world football rankings after the Socceroos' World Cup success.

The rise means Australia is now the top ranked Asian nation on FIFA's list, with Japan, South Korea, Iran, and Saudi Arabia all plummeting down the list after disappointing World Cup campaigns.

Australia began the tournament in Germany last month ranked 42nd, but earned its new position after claiming a place in the round of 16 ahead of more favoured group rivals Croatia and Japan.

World Cup champion Italy, which beat Australia 1-0 in the round of 16, jumped 11 places to No.2 on the list, with Brazil, despite losing in the quarter-finals to France, remaining top.

Argentina, finalist France, and England round out the top five, with semi-finalists Portugal eighth and Germany up 10 spots to nine.

The biggest movers in the top 50 were Switzerland (up 22 spots to 13), the Ukraine (up 30 to 15th) and Ghana (up 23 to 25.

The rankings are the first to be released by FIFA since the adoption of a revised calculation system, which only takes into account results from the past four years - instead of eight - and takes more into account the level of opposition and importance of matches.

After Australia, Iran is the highest ranked country from the Asian Confederation.

Iran dropped 24 places to 47, with Japan down 31 to 49, Korea down 27 to 56, and Saudi Arabia losing 47 places to be 81st.

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