The Roos slipped one more spot to 37th after the defeat in the friendly against Romania in Spain last week, a result which sent Romania up two spots to 31st.

This time last year Australia were number one in Asia and 18 months ago, the Roos were in the top 20 overall. The Socceroos peaked in August 2009 when they hit 14th spot.

Japan are now ranked Asia's top nation in 21st place, with Australia second, closely followed by South Korea in 38th spot overall. New Zealand top the Oceania rankings, in 90th spot overall.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's Africa Cup of Nations victory in South Africa and England's win over Brazil have helped both sides climb the FIFA world rankings.

Nigeria's third Africa Cup of Nations victory has seen the Super Eagles jump 22 places from 52nd to 30th place - their highest ranking since August 2010.

England have moved up from sixth spot to fourth following their impressive 2-1 friendly win over Brazil at Wembley last week, leapfrogging Italy, who are now fifth.

Roy Hodgon's side were victorious thanks to goals from Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard, and Brazil's defeat means they remain in a lowly 18th place.

Other significant changes see beaten AFCON finalists Burkina Faso shoot up 37 places to 55th in the world, while hosts South Africa have jumped 25 places.

Despite the Ivory Coast's disappointing showing at the tournament where they were eliminated at the quarter-final stage, they have moved up to 12th place, the highest ranking in the country's history.

The top three teams in the rankings remain unchanged, with Spain first, followed by Germany and Argentina. Scotland leapt five place to 64th while Wales jumped 13 spots to 68th.