The 35 points gained from historic AFC Challenge Cup pushed India two places up to 151st in the latest FIFA rankings issued on Wednesday.

With 166 points to its kitty, India is just above the tiny European country of Luxembourg and is 24th among 46 Asian countries.

India had beaten Tajikistan in the AFC Challenge Cup final in August 2008 to qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup in Doha.

Among the AFC Challenge Cup participants, DPR Korea, whose second-string side lost in the the semifinals, were the worst sufferers slipping 22 places to 116th, while Tajikistan gained two places to rise to 154th.

Semifinalists Myanmar lost three places to slip to 160th, Sri Lanka unmoved at 164th while Nepal and Afghanistan gained three places each to occupy 177th and 182nd spots respectively.

Japan leads the Asian ranking at 35th, followed by Australia (39th), Iran (46th), Saudi Arabia (48th) and Korea Republic (51st).

In overall rankings, Euro champions Spain (1565 points) continued their reign at the top, more than 200 points ahead of second-placed Italy while Turkey gained three places to break into top 10.

Germany, the Netherlands, Croatia, Brazil, Argentina, Czech Republic and Portugal occupy the third to ninth spots.