South Korea has retained its 21st place in February's FIFA world soccer rankings.

The country was co-ranked 21st together with Nigeria, with both countries scoring 688 points. The top spot in Asia went to Japan, which climbed one notch to 18th.

Iran placed at 20th while Saudi Arabia, South Korea's final opponent in 2006 German World Cup qualifiers, was ranked 30th.

As to other countries in South Korea's World Cup qualifying bracket, Uzbekistan was ranked 48th and Kuwait, 56th.

North Korea's national soccer team, which gave a good impression in its recent 2-1 loss to Japan, climbed two slots to 95th in the latest FIFA world rankings.

Brazil topped the list followed by France and Argentina.