Coach Eddy Etaeta and his men have risen 41 places to sit at 138th and are the biggest movers in the latest edition of the ranking, released by FIFA this week.
Their massive climb means they are now behind only New Zealand, who finished third at last month’s Nations Cup in the Solomon Islands, at the top of the Oceania tree.
Despite their disappointing campaign, the All Whites have also seen their standing improve – by five places to 95 – while the stocks of several other Nations Cup participants have also risen, namely runners-up New Caledonia (143rd, up 12), Vanuatu (168th, up 3), Solomon Islands (174th, up 9) and Papua New Guinea (187th, up 6).
Although not in action in recent months, Tonga (175th, up 1) and American Samoa (183rd, up 3) have also seen their lots improve slightly.
Fiji (161st) and Cook Islands (195th) have held their placings while the sole Oceania nation on the slide is Samoa, who paid for some heavy defeats in the Solomon Islands with a 17-place drop to 173rd.
The Oceania rankings are now as follows:
1. New Zealand
2. Tahiti
3. New Caledonia
4. Fiji
5. Vanuatu
6. Samoa
7. Solomon Islands
8. Tonga
9. American Samoa
10. Papua New Guinea
11. Cook Islands
In other parts of the world, the UEFA EURO 2012 has clearly left its mark with Spain extending their lead at the top of the rankings significantly by defending their European title and fellow finalists Italy (6th, up 6) also being richly rewarded for their performances in Poland and Ukraine with a return to the top ten.
Defeated semi-finalists Portugal (5th, up 5) and Germany (2nd, up 1) have equally seen improvements in their positions, as have England (4th, up 2), Greece (12th, up 3), Czech Republic (18th, up 9) and hosts Poland (54th, up 8) and Ukraine (46th, up 6).
The Netherlands have slipped down (8th, down 4), while Brazil (11th, down 6), currently sit in their lowest position since the start of the FIFA World Ranking.
A total of 133 international ‘A’ matches have been played in recent weeks, made up of 31 EURO 2012 games, 60 qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ (including the OFC Nations Cup fixtures), 15 CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and 27 friendlies.
All of these contests have clearly reshuffled the global ladder, with only 22 of the 208 ranked teams holding their position from the previous month while 85 teams have moved up the table and 101 have dropped at least one place.