Latest silly FIFA rankings

mike65

straight from fifia.com table

The September edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking sees Brazil unmoved at the top of the table ahead of Spain and the Netherlands. The Spaniards are gaining ground on the Brazilians, however, and they now have a significant lead over the third-placed Dutch.

World champions Italy (4th, up 1) have also made inroads and are now joint fourth with Germany. Croatia (9th, up 1) and France (10th, down 1) have also traded places. Mexico, who comfortably defeated the USA in the final of the Gold Cup to take the CONCACAF title in August, recently repeated the feat by overcoming the Americans in a FIFA World Cup™ qualifier, a victory that sees the Mexicans (24th, up 6) climb the world ranking.

Other teams to have seen off the challenge of higher-ranked teams to make progress in the table include Norway (43rd, up 7) and Chile (21st, up 5). Congo (79th, up 10), Angola (92nd, up 10) and Kyrgyzstan (143rd, up 17) have also taken significant leaps up the ranking. Australia (14th, up 2), Benin (78th, up 5) and Montenegro (89th, up 7) are all currently in their highest-ever position.

A total of eight 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and 62 friendly matches were played in the past month, bringing the total number of "A" international matches played in 2009 to 509. Many more qualifiers will be played in the next few weeks, which will lead to considerable movement in the next edition of the world ranking.

ironictoaster

How are Scotland and Northern Ireland ahead of Rep. of Ireland

Redsoxfan

Gabon?

bluefinger

This one's interesting
Bulgaria 19th
Ireland 38th
Cyprus 76th


Also
Serbia 13th (wtf!) 4 places above Portugal

ADTR

How are USA ranked 11th? Seriously!

m@cc@

creggy wrote: »

How are Scotland and Northern Ireland ahead of Rep. of Ireland

Not that much to choose between the 3 of them, I'd say.

Eirebear

creggy wrote: »

How are Scotland and Northern Ireland ahead of Rep. of Ireland

Not for long dont worry, Scotland and Northern ireland had both risen to relatively high standings a couple of years ago, (I thin Scotland were at around 14 at one stage) but are quickly plummeting at the moment under their respective management teams.

Headshot

ADTR wrote: »

How are USA ranked 11th? Seriously!

USA are a good team

they got to the final of the confederations cup and the gold cup

and lay 3rd in their qualifying group (joined 2nd on points with Honduras)

Vokes

The rankings aren't that silly, mike, they make perfect sense within the rules.

Or is it the rules you think are silly?

creggy wrote: »

How are Scotland and Northern Ireland ahead of Rep. of Ireland

By virtue of their Euro 08 qualifying games most likely. Plus good results against the bigger teams.

The rankings take the previous 4 years into account, so, for example, Italy's WC 06 showing is still taken account.

If Italy continue with so-so results (maybe the'll come 2nd in qualifying ), a declining ranking will eventually be reflected post WC10 (assuming they don't win it or go far!).

Soby

bluefinger wrote: »

This one's interesting
Bulgaria 19th
Ireland 38th
Cyprus 76th


Also
Serbia 13th (wtf!) 4 places above Portugal

Well with the crazy ranking system beating a team 38 places behind us(Cyprus) will prob put us 1st or something

m@cc@

Eirebear wrote: »

Not for long dont worry, Scotland and Northern ireland had both risen to relatively high standings a couple of years ago, (I thin Scotland were at around 14 at one stage) but are quickly plummeting at the moment under their respective management teams.

It's actually the Republic who have fallen from the start of the year. Scotland and NI have moved up.

Headshot

here would be my top 8 teams

1. Spain
2. Brazil
3. Netherlands
4. England
5. France
6. Germany
7. Argentina
8. serbia

Argentina would be higher only for their Rookie manager,for anyone interested their taking on brazil on the 6th of September if my memory serves me right

bluefinger

Soby wrote: »

Well with the crazy ranking system beating a team 38 places behind us(Cyprus) will prob put us 1st or something

which would be 5 whole places above our previous highest.....6th in 1992-93
those were the days!

Euro_Kraut

Headshot wrote: »

here would be my top 8 teams

1. Spain
2. Brazil
3. Netherlands
4. England
5. France
6. Germany
7. Argentina
8. Germany

You really can never write off the Germans!!

bluefinger

Headshot wrote: »

here would be my top 8 teams

1. Spain
2. Brazil
3. Netherlands
4. England
5. France
6. Germany
7. Argentina
8. serbia

is that what's called a 'ninja edit' arount here?

Johnny Utah

ADTR wrote: »

How are USA ranked 11th? Seriously!

Because the Fifa rankings are an absolute joke imo. Teams like Mexico, USA, Australia etc are ranked way higher than they should be. Also Brazil seem to be always number 1- obviously picking up points playing difficult friendlies in South America against the likes of Venezuala and Peru. :rolleyes:


The Elo Ranking system is slightly better:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elo_football_rating

And, it's quite interesting to note that if the ELO system was used to pick the best 32 countries for the World Cup, then Ireland would just sneak in:

ELO Rankings wrote: »

1 Brazil
2 Spain
3 Netherlands
4 England
5 Germany
6 Italy
7 Argentina
8 Croatia
9 Russia
10 Mexico
11 France
12 Chile
13 Denmark
14 Turkey
15 Serbia
16 Portugal
17 Uruguay
18 United States
19 Switzerland
20 Czech Republic
21 Romania
22 Bulgaria
23 Paraguay
24 Ukraine
25 Australia
26 Côte d'Ivoire
Japan
28 Greece
29 Honduras
30 Ghana
31 Nigeria
32 Republic of Ireland

So, 6 countries from South America, 19 from Europe, 2 from North America, 2 from Asia, and 3 from Africa would give us the best 32 countries to compete in the World Cup, and would make the competition a lot stronger imo. Maybe Fifa should allot places for each continent based on an accurate ranking system like this? It would certainly suit Ireland anyway, and it would get rid of some of the dross in the World Cup.

Eirebear

m@cc@ wrote: »

It's actually the Republic who have fallen from the start of the year. Scotland and NI have moved up.

And last Augusts rankings show Scotland in 16th while Ireland sit 42nd.

I would say its evening out...

ArmaniJeanss

Pro-Gambler Kevin Pullein in the Racing Post always reckoned that the FIFA rankings were one of the most underated punter tools out there.

He had a basic result prediction formula of (I think) just under half a goal for every 20 places differences between teams, increasing to half a goal per 15 places lower down the list, then another .4 goal for home advantage.

He then converted this result prediction to odds (e.g., a home team that he believed favoured to win by ~.8 of a goal should be around 8/11) and blindly bet those instances where a team was available at a bigger price then that predicted.

It proved to be a winning formula, mainly because of the perception shared by punters and oddsmakers, and hammered home by the media that these rankings are a joke.
Whereas they are actually extremely accurate.


(Some of the exact formula above will be wrong as its from memory.)

Benedict XVI

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Pro-Gambler Kevin Pullein in the Racing Post always reckoned that the FIFA rankings were one of the most underated punter tools out there.

He had a basic result prediction formula of (I think) just under half a goal for every 20 places differences between teams, increasing to half a goal per 15 places lower down the list, then another .4 goal for home advantage.

He then converted this result prediction to odds (e.g., a home team that he believed favoured to win by ~.8 of a goal should be around 8/11) and blindly bet those instances where a team was available at a bigger price then that predicted.

It proved to be a winning formula, mainly because of the perception shared by punters and oddsmakers, and hammered home by the media that these rankings are a joke.
Whereas they are actually extremely accurate.


(Some of the exact formula above will be wrong as its from memory.)

The rankings can be interrupted using the following formula

They are a joke when

1. England are rising

and/or

2. Ireland are falling

They are not a joke when

1. Ireland are rising

and/or

2. England are falling

Johnny Utah

Benedict XVI wrote: »

The rankings can be interrupted using the following formula

They are a joke when

1. England are rising

and/or

2. Ireland are falling

They are not a joke when

1. Ireland are rising

and/or

2. England are falling

The Fifa rankings are a joke. Apparently, Brazil were the best international team between 1995 to 2001. USA were ranked 4th in 2006, despite finishing bottom of their World Cup group. Joke.

Warper

How the hell are England ranked 4th in the ELO rankings? They didnt even make the Euros and bombed out (again) in the last World Cup. Beating a bunch of no-hopers in a WC qualifying group hardly makes them the 4th best team in the world.

m@cc@

Eirebear wrote: »

And last Augusts rankings show Scotland in 16th while Ireland sit 42nd.

I would say its evening out...

Read what I was responding to.

Y2J_MUFC

Benedict XVI wrote: »

The rankings can be interrupted using the following formula

They are a joke when

1. England are rising

and/or

2. Ireland are falling

They are not a joke when

1. Ireland are rising

and/or

2. England are falling

Maybe for you, but not for the rest of us. :rolleyes:

Eirebear

m@cc@ wrote: »

Read what I was responding to.

Uh-huh, you pointed out to me that since January Scotland have risen 3 or 4 places while ireland have dropped a couple.

All im suggesting is that you maybe have a look further back, and it might give you an idea as to why Scotland are just above Ireland at the moment given the fact that the ranking points are held for 4 or 5 years.

Mikeyt086

bluefinger wrote: »

is that what's called a 'ninja edit' arount here?

Yes it is.

Also if anyone is looking at headshot's picks and thinking "Serbia WTF!" then i must explain that it is due to Headshot's man-crush on Zoran Tosic.

:P

Unearthly

Johnny Utah wrote: »

So, 6 countries from South America, 19 from Europe, 2 from North America, 2 from Asia, and 3 from Africa would give us the best 32 countries to compete in the World Cup, and would make the competition a lot stronger imo. Maybe Fifa should allot places for each continent based on an accurate ranking system like this? It would certainly suit Ireland anyway, and it would get rid of some of the dross in the World Cup.

I don't think we are in a position to look down on any world cup qualifiers. Our squad at the moment is probably weaker than it's ever been for over 20 years.

Paparazzo

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

Yes it is.

Also if anyone is looking at headshot's picks and thinking "Serbia WTF!" then i must explain that it is due to Headshot's man-crush on Zoran Tosic.

:P

And Vidic. It just had to be a man-u fan putting Serbia in the top 8!
I think the fifa rankings are fairly accurate.

anonymous_joe

Johnny Utah wrote: »

Because the Fifa rankings are an absolute joke imo. Teams like Mexico, USA, Australia etc are ranked way higher than they should be. Also Brazil seem to be always number 1- obviously picking up points playing difficult friendlies in South America against the likes of Venezuala and Peru. :rolleyes:

Are you really complaining about Brazil being rated the best team in the world?

In fairness, the likes of Norn Iron beat Spain in the past four seasons or so, and England too, the kind of results we haven't been getting.

While I've no doubts that we're better than them, and quite possibly better than Scotland, keep in mind that Stan's reign is part of the timeframe used by the FIFA rankings.

greendom

bluefinger wrote: »

This one's interesting
Bulgaria 19th
Ireland 38th
Cyprus 76th


Also
Serbia 13th (wtf!) 4 places above Portugal

On current form Serbia are way better than Portugal (although maybe you are suggesting they should be further ahead :rolleyes:)

Headshot

tbf serbia are an up in coming Nation

there flying ahead in their qualifying group and their U19 and U21s are pretty good

only for injuries they've would of won U19 championships and U21 championships

and no im not saying this because im a utd fan

ADTR

Headshot wrote: »

USA are a good team

they got to the final of the confederations cup and the gold cup

and lay 3rd in their qualifying group (joined 2nd on points with Honduras)

Those two competitions aren't taken seriously by the better teams. And Honduras! Ha!

Headshot

ADTR wrote: »

Those two competitions aren't taken seriously by the better teams. And Honduras! Ha!

did you see the confederations cup ?


ill probably agree with the gold cup but ill repeat myself did you see the confederations cup ?

ADTR

Headshot wrote: »

did you see the confederations cup ?


ill probably agree with the gold cup but ill repeat myself did you see the confederations cup ?

No, I didn't. I know that the US beat Spain and only lost to Brazil in the final although they were easily beaten by Brazil in the group stage.

Headshot

ADTR wrote: »

No, I didn't. I know that the US beat Spain and only lost to Brazil in the final although they were easily beaten by Brazil in the group stage.

so you shouldnt comment on it then

all the big teams had their best 1st team out

the Brazilians made a big deal out of it

ADTR

Headshot wrote: »

so you shouldnt comment on it then

all the big teams had their best 1st team out

the Brazilians made a big deal out of it

I know. But results were all over the place. Spain only beat Iraq 1:0. Come on! It's just over glorified friendlies.

Anyway, back on point. USA should not be 11th in the world.

Headshot

ADTR wrote: »

I know. But results were all over the place. Spain only beat Iraq 1:0. Come on!

Anyway, back on point. USA should not be 11th in the world.

again if you watched the match you would know Iraq had 11 men behind the ball all the time and never attacked at all

ADTR

Headshot wrote: »

again if you watched the match you would know Iraq had 11 men behind the ball all the time and never attacked at all

If Spain are so good, they should be able to counter that.

Headshot

ADTR wrote: »

If Spain are so good, they should be able to counter that.

i hate people commenting on a match they havent watched

really grind my gears

Kirby

ADTR wrote: »

If Spain are so good, they should be able to counter that.

Football doesn't work like that. If the team you are playing against are packing their box with 10 men, there isn't a whole lot you can do. There is no space to find your forwards, and most teams usually have to rely on shooting from outside the box.

The rankings are what they are. Personally, I have no issue with them. Its got to be done some way, and this seems fair enough.

ADTR

Headshot wrote: »

i hate people commenting on a match they havent watched

really grind my gears

I'm not commenting on a match. I stated that USA should not be 11th. You took issue with this and to disprove this point you dragged out the Confederations Cup and the Gold Cup which are the international equivalents of the World Club Championship. Just watch how the US do when they play in a real tournament.

Headshot

ADTR wrote: »

I'm not commenting on a match. I stated that USA should not be 11th. You took issue with this and to disprove this point you dragged out the Confederations Cup and the Gold Cup which are the international equivalents of the World Club Championship. Just watch how the US do when they play in a real tournament.

now your saying the WCC isnt a serious competition

I can see why usa are 11th because there a good team,btw when is the last time you saw usa ?

Benedict XVI

ADTR wrote: »

I'm not commenting on a match. I stated that USA should not be 11th. You took issue with this and to disprove this point you dragged out the Confederations Cup and the Gold Cup which are the international equivalents of the World Club Championship. Just watch how the US do when they play in a real tournament.

People are always surprised at the rankings the USA have had over the past number of years.

People seem to think that just because football is not the primary sport in the country the national team should be useless

Fair enough they play qualifying games in a weaker federation but they did get to the quarters of the 2002 World Cup on merit and it was only a very tough draw in a group that included Italy, and inspired Ghana, and The Czech Republic that resulted in a poor 2006 World Cup

I would not be one bit surprised if, over the coming world cups, they were not consistent quarter finalists and occasional semi finalists

Epic Tissue

The list seems ok to me

Soby

ADTR wrote: »

If Spain are so good, they should be able to counter that.

They did..hence the 1-0 score line