The improvement is mainly courtesy of the team’s 2-0 win against Southeast Asian defending champions Malaysia and a 0-0 draw with Indonesia last September.
The team has now earned 203 points, only three less than Thailand, the region’s current leader who has dropped eight places in the latest rankings.
With 1,611 points, Spain retains its position as the football world’s dominators, followed by Germany on 1,459 points.
Colombia’s success in the 2014 World Cup’s qualifying rounds helped them claim the 9th position, pushing Croatia out of the top ten.
What the stars mean:
★ Poor ★ ★ Promising ★★★ Good ★★★★ Very good ★★★★★ Exceptional