2004年9月1日，国际足联公布了9月份各国国家队的最新排名，中国队凭借在8月份亚洲杯上的出色表现，排名迅速蹿升了13位，达到了目前的第48位。但在亚洲，排在前四位的球队仍然是日本、伊朗、韩国、沙特，四强格局并未发生变化。约旦、伊拉克、巴林也都排在中国队之前。

　　新华社报道如下：

　　World soccer governing body, FIFA, has released its latest rankings Wednesday. China rose to 48th place with 572 points, 3 ranks up from August. Top 10 teams remain unchanged since few A-level international games were held in the past month, when the Athens Olympics took center stage.

　　FIFA是Federation Internationale de Football Association（法语）的缩写，表示“国际足球联盟”。