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The Socceroos have climbed to 16th on the FIFA world rankings

Photo: Getty Images

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Source: ABC News

The Socceroos have achieved their highest ever position in the latest FIFA world rankings.

Australia's footballers are now ranked 16th after completing their successful qualifying campaign for next year's World Cup in South Africa.

Australia jumped 13 spots from 29th and is now ranked ahead of Portugal, Uruguay and the Czech Republic.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) chief executive Ben Buckley said he was "delighted" at the news.

"Rankings are not the 'be all and end all' of football but they are certainly an indicator of our progress," he told the FFA website.

"The more competitive games we play, the greater the opportunity to improve our position in the world rankings and the more match hardened the team becomes."

Brazil has returned to the top of the rankings for the first time since August 2007 after winning the Confederations Cup at the weekend.

The Socceroos became the second nation to qualify for the 2010 World Cup after snaring six wins and two draws in the fourth stage of qualification.