KARACHI, Feb 16: After experiencing continuous decline in world rankings during past six months, Pakistan have at last improved two places to secure 169th place in the latest ratings announced by the soccer’s world governing body (FIFA) for the present month.

According to the details available on Friday, Sri Lanka (147) lead the South Asian nations followed by Bangladesh (154), India (157) and Maldives (157).

Other South Asian countries are Nepal (171) and Bhutan, which is at the bottom with 192nd position.

Iran secured top Asian spot with 32nd place while Japan (41), Korea (44), Saudi Arabia (63), Oman (76) and Qatar (77) are other top-ranked countries of Asia.

Meanwhile, Italy have managed to topple Brazil and claimed the top spot for the first time since November 1993, ending Brazil's remarkable 55-month run at the top.

Top-ten:

1 Italy, 2 Brazil, 3 Argentina, 4 France, 5 Germany, 6 England, 7 Netherlands, 8 Portugal, 9 Czech Republic, 10 Spain.—PPI