Friday, February 25, 2011

FIFA to decide 2014 World Cup slots

FIFA's Executive Committee will decide how many places each confederation will be allocated for the 2014 FIFA World Cup at its meeting to be held in Zurich on 2 and 3 March.

CONCACAF are already pushing for an increase in their quota - from 3.5 to 4.

I already wrote about allocating slots right in July 2010.

Allocating World Cup slots: Is there a better way?

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.

FIFA Ranking: CHAN matches to be included?

CAF president Issa Hayatou announced in his speech in Khartoum:

"On February 12, a proposal was forwarded to the FIFA Executive Committee to include results of CHAN matches in the FIFA rankings."

I doubt FIFA will agree since they don't include CHAN matches in the rankings because CHAN rules restrict the eligibility of players.

However, politics are usually more important than football.

Maybe AFC should take note and ask FIFA to "upgrade" AFC Challenge Cup matches from friendlies to continental qualifiers since the winners advance to the Asian Cup final tournament and most of the teams involved in the Challenge Cup don't participate in the main qualifiers.

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.

Friday, February 18, 2011

2014 FIFA World Cup probable seeding info

A couple of weeks ago, I sort of promised to post seeding tables computed using probable results.

2014 FIFA World Cup probable seeding for CAF teams (18 February 2010)
2014 FIFA World Cup probable seeding for UEFA teams (18 February 2010)

I only did it for CAF and UEFA, because CONCACAF have postponed the Gold Cup groups announcement to March.

I also tweaked a bit the generation of probable results - to generate less draws (23.66% instead of 33% if anyone cares). Thanks Russian Lurkmore for the suggestion! He suggested using 10%, but in the last 8 years 23.66% of international matches were draws.

Hopefully I'll post updates every month.

Enjoy!

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.

2014 FIFA World Cup probable seeding for UEFA teams (18 February 2010)

See the list of probable results.

FIFA Ranking vs. Elo Ratings

Underachievers

France in the second pot based on their pedigree would be a suprise, but based on the probable results (especially the defeat against Ukraine in June) they would be 11th in Europe in the Elo Ratings.

Italy (7th in Europe in the Elo Ratings) and Sweden (8) fail to reach the first pot.
Ukraine (10), Republic of Ireland (15), Switzerland (17) and Czech Republic (18) fail to reach the second pot.
Poland (23), Bulgaria (25) and Scotland (26) fail to reach the third pot.
Finland (34) fail to reach the fourth pot.

Overachievers

Norway (12) and Greece (16) in the first pot.
Denmark (20), Slovenia (12) and Montenegro (22) in the second pot.
Hungary (29) and Belgium (31) in the third pot.
Albania (40) in the fourth pot.

Slovakia (28) are a special case. Based on the Elo Ratings they would be in the fourth pot, but using the probable July 2011 FIFA ranking they are in the second pot.

 1 Spain                    1622
2 Netherlands 1592
3 Germany 1361
4 England 1281
5 Portugal 1119
6 Croatia 1107
7 Norway 1077
8 Russia 1050
9 Greece 1020
--------------------------------
10 Italy 977
11 Serbia 917
12 Montenegro 888
13 Sweden 884
14 Slovenia 877
15 France 859
16 Slovakia 821
17 Turkey 815
18 Denmark 778
--------------------------------
19 Republic of Ireland 756
20 Switzerland 724
21 Israel 706
22 Czech Republic 703
23 Ukraine 680
24 Belarus 676
25 Romania 646
26 Hungary 603
27 Belgium 587
--------------------------------
28 Austria 584
29 Lithuania 573
30 Bosnia-Herzegovina 555
31 Bulgaria 526
32 Scotland 513
33 Northern Ireland 506
34 Cyprus 478
35 Albania 467
36 Poland 455
--------------------------------
37 Latvia 448
38 Finland 419
39 Armenia 404
40 Georgia 386
41 Moldova 383
42 Estonia 371
43 FYR Macedonia 331
44 Azerbaijan 300
45 Wales 240
--------------------------------
46 Luxembourg 213
47 Iceland 205
48 Kazakhstan 174
49 Faroe Islands 156
50 Liechtenstein 109
51 Malta 83
52 Andorra 0
52 San Marino 0

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.

2014 FIFA World Cup probable seeding for CAF teams (18 February 2010)

See the list of probable results.

Algeria and Malawi tied for 12th. Algeria in the first pot because their unrounded total points are higher than Malawi's.

FIFA Ranking vs. Elo Ratings

Underachievers

South Africa (7th in Africa in the Elo Ratings), Senegal (8), Uganda (10) and Mali (12) fail to reach the first pot.
Congo DR (23) and Gambia (24) fail to reach the second pot.
Ethiopia (33) and Namibia (36) fail to reach the third pot.
Seychelles (48) fail to reach the fourth pot.

Overachievers

Guinea (13), Gabon (14), Libya (15) and Algeria (18) in the first pot.
Mozambique (26) and Niger (28) in the second pot.
Chad (38) and Kenya (39) in the third pot.
Somalia (51) in the fourth pot.

 1 Côte d'Ivoire            922
2 Egypt 875
3 Cameroon 744
4 Ghana 705
5 Burkina Faso 659
6 Nigeria 646
7 Tunisia 556
8 Gabon 551
9 Libya 530
10 Morocco 514
11 Guinea 494
12 Algeria 479
-------------------------------
12 Malawi 479
14 Senegal 475
15 Botswana 462
16 Cape Verde Islands 443
17 Mali 439
18 Uganda 417
19 South Africa 412
20 Zambia 399
21 Benin 380
22 Angola 357
23 Niger 356
24 Mozambique 351
-------------------------------
25 Sudan 343
26 Central African Republic 301
27 Zimbabwe 267
28 Sierra Leone 260
29 Tanzania 258
30 Gambia 257
31 Congo DR 240
32 Togo 238
33 Rwanda 208
34 Congo 206
35 Kenya 173
36 Chad 167
-------------------------------
37 Ethiopia 149
38 Guinea-Bissau 142
39 Burundi 130
40 Namibia 104
41 Madagascar 92
42 Equatorial Guinea 83
43 Liberia 77
44 Swaziland 68
45 Lesotho 44
46 Mauritania 32
47 Eritrea 29
48 Somalia 23
-------------------------------
49 Comoros 19
50 Djibouti 12
51 Mauritius 10
52 Seychelles 7
53 Sao Tome e Principe 0

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.

2014 FIFA World Cup seeding: Probable results (18 February 2011)

Only matches involving CAF or UEFA teams.

Results are generated using the Elo Ratings.

1 - First team wins
X - Draw
2 - Second team wins

25/Mar Mali - Zimbabwe 1 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Cape Verde Islands - Liberia 1 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Madagascar - Guinea 2 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Libya - Comoros 1 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Mozambique - Zambia X (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Tanzania - Central African Republic 1 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Senegal - Cameroon X (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Congo DR - Mauritius 1 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Burkina Faso - Namibia 1 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Niger - Sierra Leone 1 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar South Africa - Egypt 2 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Rwanda - Burundi 1 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Côte d'Ivoire - Benin 1 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Congo - Ghana 2 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Sudan - Swaziland 1 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Kenya - Angola 2 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Guinea-Bissau - Uganda 2 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Spain - Czech Republic 1 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Chad - Botswana X (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Malawi - Togo 1 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Lithuania - Poland X (Friendly)
25/Mar Qatar - Tunisia X (Friendly)
25/Mar Gabon - Gambia 1 (Friendly)
25/Mar Japan - Montenegro 1 (Friendly)
25/Mar Austria - Belgium 1 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Serbia - Northern Ireland 1 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Hungary - Netherlands 2 (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Slovenia - Italy X (Continental Qualifier)
25/Mar Luxembourg - France 2 (Continental Qualifier)
26/Mar Wales - England 2 (Continental Qualifier)
26/Mar Bulgaria - Switzerland X (Continental Qualifier)
26/Mar Armenia - Russia 2 (Continental Qualifier)
26/Mar Bosnia-Herzegovina - Romania X (Continental Qualifier)
26/Mar Republic of Ireland - FYR Macedonia 1 (Continental Qualifier)
26/Mar Germany - Kazakhstan 1 (Continental Qualifier)
26/Mar Albania - Belarus X (Continental Qualifier)
26/Mar Andorra - Slovakia 2 (Continental Qualifier)
26/Mar Cyprus - Iceland 1 (Continental Qualifier)
26/Mar Norway - Denmark 1 (Continental Qualifier)
26/Mar Malta - Greece 2 (Continental Qualifier)
26/Mar Georgia - Croatia 2 (Continental Qualifier)
26/Mar Israel - Latvia 1 (Continental Qualifier)
27/Mar Nigeria - Ethiopia 1 (Continental Qualifier)
27/Mar Algeria - Morocco X (Continental Qualifier)
27/Mar Brazil - Scotland 1 (Friendly)
29/Mar Lithuania - Spain 2 (Continental Qualifier)
29/Mar Greece - Poland 1 (Friendly)
29/Mar Oman - Tunisia X (Friendly)
29/Mar Korea Republic - Montenegro 1 (Friendly)
29/Mar France - Croatia X (Friendly)
29/Mar Ukraine - Italy X (Friendly)
29/Mar Czech Republic - Liechtenstein 1 (Continental Qualifier)
29/Mar Sweden - Moldova 1 (Continental Qualifier)
29/Mar Northern Ireland - Slovenia X (Continental Qualifier)
29/Mar England - Ghana 1 (Friendly)
29/Mar Turkey - Austria 1 (Continental Qualifier)
29/Mar Netherlands - Hungary 1 (Continental Qualifier)
29/Mar Belgium - Azerbaijan 1 (Continental Qualifier)
29/Mar Romania - Luxembourg 1 (Continental Qualifier)
29/Mar Portugal - Finland 1 (Friendly)
29/Mar Israel - Georgia 1 (Continental Qualifier)
29/Mar Estonia - Serbia 2 (Continental Qualifier)
30/Mar Morocco - Angola 1 (Friendly)
24/May Republic of Ireland - Northern Ireland 1 (Friendly)
25/May Scotland - Wales 1 (Friendly)
27/May Wales - Northern Ireland X (Friendly)
29/May Republic of Ireland - Scotland 1 (Friendly)
03/Jun Zimbabwe - Mali X (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Liberia - Cape Verde Islands 2 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Guinea - Madagascar 1 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Ethiopia - Nigeria 2 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Comoros - Libya 2 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Zambia - Mozambique 1 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Central African Republic - Tanzania X (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Morocco - Algeria 1 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Cameroon - Senegal 1 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Mauritius - Congo DR 2 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Namibia - Burkina Faso 2 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Sierra Leone - Niger X (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Egypt - South Africa 1 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Burundi - Rwanda X (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Benin - Côte d'Ivoire 2 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Ghana - Congo 1 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Swaziland - Sudan 2 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Angola - Kenya 1 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Uganda - Guinea-Bissau 1 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Kazakhstan - Azerbaijan X (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Belgium - Turkey X (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Italy - Estonia 1 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Faroe Islands - Slovenia 2 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Romania - Bosnia-Herzegovina 1 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Belarus - France X (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun San Marino - Finland 2 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Moldova - Sweden 2 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Liechtenstein - Lithuania 2 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Botswana - Malawi X (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Tunisia - Chad 1 (Continental Qualifier)
03/Jun Hungary - Luxembourg 1 (Friendly)
03/Jun Austria - Germany 2 (Continental Qualifier)
04/Jun Russia - Armenia 1 (Continental Qualifier)
04/Jun FYR Macedonia - Republic of Ireland 2 (Continental Qualifier)
04/Jun Slovakia - Andorra 1 (Continental Qualifier)
04/Jun Latvia - Israel X (Continental Qualifier)
04/Jun Greece - Malta 1 (Continental Qualifier)
04/Jun Croatia - Georgia 1 (Continental Qualifier)
04/Jun Montenegro - Bulgaria 1 (Continental Qualifier)
04/Jun England - Switzerland 1 (Continental Qualifier)
04/Jun Iceland - Denmark 2 (Continental Qualifier)
04/Jun Portugal - Norway 1 (Continental Qualifier)
04/Jun Brazil - Netherlands X (Friendly)
06/Jun Ukraine - France 1 (Friendly)
07/Jun Azerbaijan - Germany 2 (Continental Qualifier)
07/Jun Faroe Islands - Estonia 2 (Continental Qualifier)
07/Jun Bosnia-Herzegovina - Albania 1 (Continental Qualifier)
07/Jun Belarus - Luxembourg 1 (Continental Qualifier)
07/Jun San Marino - Hungary 2 (Continental Qualifier)
07/Jun Sweden - Finland 1 (Continental Qualifier)
07/Jun Slovenia - FYR Macedonia 1 (Friendly)
07/Jun Austria - Latvia 1 (Friendly)
09/Jun Poland - France X (Friendly)
22/Jun Uruguay - Estonia 1 (Friendly)
26/Jun Bolivia - Latvia X (Friendly)

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.

2014 FIFA World Cup: Asian draw in April?

According to an article on Chinese portal Sina.com.cn, the preliminary draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup (AFC confederation) will take place in April. Thanks Filipino Football for the info!

As usual, there's no confirmation on AFC's website, but that's the norm :)

It seems Brunei Darussalam (suspended) and Laos won't participate.

There's also a slight change in the format. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup preliminaries, the 8 lowest seeds advancing from the first round were required to play in the second round, while the other seeds involved in the first round were given a bye to the third round (the groups stage). Now, there will be a regular format - with less teams in the first round and more in the second round.

Again, AFC won't be using the FIFA ranking. The Sina.com.cn article confirms the performance base seeding.

First round

First leg: 29 June, 2011
Second leg: 3 July, 2011

Pot A: India, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam

Pot B: Mongolia, Palestine, Timor-Leste, Macau, Chinese Taipei, Myanmar, Bhutan, Guam, Philippines

Second round

First leg: 23 July, 2011
Second leg: 28 July, 2011

Pot A: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, Syria, Oman, Jordan, Iraq, China PR, Singapore, Kuwait, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Lebanon

Pot B: Yemen, Tajikistan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives + 9 winners from the first round.

Third round

Five groups of four teams.

The draw will take place on 31 July 2011, with Japan, Korea Republic, Australia, Korea DPR and Bahrain entering the competition at this stage.

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.

Friday, February 11, 2011

2014 FIFA World Cup seeding for UEFA teams (11 February 2010)

Next update: 1 April 2011

The preliminary draw will take place on July 31st, 2011.

Assumptions:

- UEFA will again have 13 spots
- UEFA will again use the system with 9 groups
- FIFA will use the July 2011 FIFA ranking to seed the teams

The July 2011 FIFA ranking will include matches played between July 2007 and July 2011. We already 50% of the final ranking. Things can and will change before July 2011 as there are many matches to be played involving European teams: EURO 2012 qualifiers and plenty of friendlies.

UEFA will only use the national team coefficient for the European Championships draws (qualifying and final tournament).

This is the July 2011 ranking (for UEFA only) using matches played up to and including February 10th, 2011 and matches scheduled up to July 2011 (only those on fifa.com).

The "1.0" part is computed this way: points gained / (number of matches played + scheduled).

Greece and Italy replace Russia and Montenegro in the first pot.
Turkey replace Czech Republic in the second pot.
Scotland replace Israel in the third pot.
Poland replace Moldova in the fourth pot.

Best movers:

9 - Poland
4 - Scotland
3 - Italy and Romania

Worst movers:

-4 - Montenegro and Moldova
-3 - Portugal, Albania and Armenia
-2 - Denmark, Czech Republic, Sweden, Belarus, Israel and Finland

Most points gained:

62 - Poland
59 - Italy
54 - Scotland

Most points lost:

-147 - Montenegro
-95 - Portugal
-68 - Belarus

Rank - Previous rank - Team - Total points

 1  1 Spain                    1360
2 2 Netherlands 1327
3 3 Germany 1078
4 4 England 1008
5 4 Norway 934
6 8 Croatia 907
7 9 Greece 906
8 11 Italy 874
9 6 Portugal 857
-----------------------------------
10 9 Russia 830
11 7 Montenegro 760
12 12 France 748
13 14 Slovakia 737
14 15 Slovenia 721
15 13 Denmark 709
16 18 Serbia 686
17 16 Switzerland 682
18 20 Turkey 659
-----------------------------------
19 17 Czech Republic 649
20 22 Ukraine 627
21 19 Sweden 624
22 23 Hungary 548
23 21 Belarus 543
24 25 Republic of Ireland 524
25 24 Lithuania 506
26 30 Scotland 504
27 26 Bulgaria 477
-----------------------------------
28 28 Belgium 469
29 27 Israel 458
30 29 Northern Ireland 452
31 34 Romania 442
31 32 Austria 442
33 42 Poland 428
34 31 Albania 422
35 35 Bosnia-Herzegovina 418
36 33 Armenia 404
-----------------------------------
37 37 Latvia 402
38 38 Cyprus 387
39 40 Georgia 386
40 36 Moldova 383
41 39 Finland 366
42 41 Estonia 337
43 43 FYR Macedonia 331
44 44 Azerbaijan 282
45 45 Wales 223
-----------------------------------
46 47 Luxembourg 213
47 46 Iceland 205
48 48 Faroe Islands 156
49 49 Kazakhstan 145
50 50 Liechtenstein 109
51 51 Malta 83
52 52 Andorra 0
52 52 San Marino 0

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.

2014 FIFA World Cup seeding for CONCACAF teams (11 February 2011)

Next update: 1 April 2011

As usual with CONCACAF things are constantly changing. The draw won't take place on May 31st as some some papers in Central America have reported, but on July 31st. Which ranking will be used to seed the teams? Well... I don't know.

Here's the intermediate July 2011 ranking - it means the 2007 Gold Cup results are dropped, while the 2009 Gold Cup loses value. Of course, teams involved in the 2011 Gold Cup can climb depending on their performance.

Rank - Previous rank - Team - Total points
 1  1 Honduras                       556
2 2 USA 538
3 3 Jamaica 483
4 4 Mexico 480
5 5 Costa Rica 423
6 6 Cuba 402
7 7 Trinidad and Tobago 379
8 8 Panama 375
----------------------------------------
9 9 Antigua and Barbuda 324
10 10 Suriname 296
11 13 El Salvador 294
12 12 Grenada 289
13 11 Guyana 282
14 14 Haiti 256
15 15 St. Kitts and Nevis 245
16 16 Canada 196
----------------------------------------
17 17 Dominica 193
18 18 Barbados 191
19 19 Guatemala 183
20 20 Puerto Rico 167
21 21 Netherlands Antilles 128
22 22 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 115
23 23 Cayman Islands 90
24 24 Dominican Republic 66
----------------------------------------
24 24 Nicaragua 66
26 26 Belize 64
27 27 Bermuda 40
28 28 British Virgin Islands 38
29 29 St. Lucia 31
30 30 Turks and Caicos Islands 13
31 31 Bahamas 9
32 32 Aruba 7
----------------------------------------
33 33 US Virgin Islands 3
34 34 Anguilla 0
34 34 Montserrat 0


May 2011 intermediate ranking

El Salvador replace Canada in the first pot.

Rank - Previous rank - Team - Total points
 1  1 USA                            842
2 2 Mexico 761
3 3 Honduras 629
4 4 Jamaica 596
5 5 Costa Rica 533
6 6 Cuba 510
7 7 Panama 487
8 9 El Salvador 386
----------------------------------------
9 10 Grenada 384
10 8 Canada 375
11 11 Trinidad and Tobago 353
12 12 Haiti 348
13 13 Antigua and Barbuda 322
14 14 Guyana 284
15 15 Suriname 267
16 16 St. Kitts and Nevis 247
----------------------------------------
17 17 Guatemala 222
18 18 Dominica 193
19 19 Puerto Rico 180
19 19 Barbados 180
21 21 Netherlands Antilles 121
22 22 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 116
23 23 Cayman Islands 90
24 24 Bermuda 80
----------------------------------------
25 25 Nicaragua 75
26 26 Belize 66
26 26 Dominican Republic 66
28 28 British Virgin Islands 38
29 29 St. Lucia 31
30 30 Turks and Caicos Islands 13
31 31 Bahamas 8
32 32 Aruba 7
----------------------------------------
33 33 US Virgin Islands 3
34 34 Anguilla 0
34 34 Montserrat 0

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.

2014 FIFA World Cup seeding for CAF (11 February 2011)

Next update: 1 April 2011

Assumptions:

- CAF will again have 5 spots
- CAF will keep the current qualifying system
- FIFA will use the FIFA ranking to seed the teams
- CAF will choose the July 2011 ranking for seeding

The July 2011 FIFA ranking will include matches played between July 2007 and July 2011. We already have 50% of the formula. Things can still change as there are many matches to be played involving African teams: CAN 2012 qualifiers and plenty of friendlies.
This the July 2011 ranking (for CAF only) using matches played up to and including February 10th, 2011 and matches scheduled up to July 2011 (only those on fifa.com).

The "1.0" part is computed this way: points gained / (number of matches played + scheduled).

Senegal and Libya replace Guinea and Benin in the first pot.
Central African Republic replace Niger in the second pot.
Guinea-Bissau replace Rwanda in the third pot.

Best movers:

7 - Senegal
4 - Libya
3 - Central African Republic and Guinea-Bissau

Worst movers:

-4 - Botswana, Guinea, Benin and Uganda
-3 - Sudan
-2 - Angola and Tanzania

Most points gained:

68 - Egypt
57 - Senegal
56 - Cameroon

Most points lost:

-55 - Botswana
-53 - Sudan
-43 - Guinea

Rank - Previous rank - Team - Total points
 1  2 Egypt                    709
2 1 Côte d'Ivoire 701
3 4 Ghana 576
4 6 Cameroon 550
4 3 Burkina Faso 550
6 5 Gabon 535
7 8 Nigeria 485
8 9 Tunisia 474
9 11 Algeria 431
10 17 Senegal 427
11 7 Botswana 423
12 16 Libya 422
----------------------------------
13 15 South Africa 412
14 10 Guinea 402
15 14 Malawi 387
16 12 Benin 380
17 13 Uganda 371
18 19 Cape Verde Islands 351
19 18 Mali 349
20 22 Morocco 325
21 20 Zambia 321
22 23 Mozambique 314
23 26 Central African Republic 263
24 21 Sudan 262
----------------------------------
25 24 Niger 259
26 27 Gambia 257
27 25 Angola 256
28 28 Togo 238
29 30 Sierra Leone 217
30 31 Zimbabwe 212
31 29 Tanzania 211
32 32 Congo 206
33 35 Congo DR 182
34 33 Kenya 173
35 34 Ethiopia 149
36 39 Guinea-Bissau 142
----------------------------------
37 36 Rwanda 138
38 37 Chad 127
39 38 Burundi 113
40 40 Namibia 104
41 41 Madagascar 92
42 44 Equatorial Guinea 83
43 42 Liberia 77
44 43 Swaziland 68
45 45 Lesotho 44
46 46 Mauritania 32
47 47 Eritrea 29
48 48 Somalia 23
----------------------------------
49 49 Comoros 19
50 50 Djibouti 12
51 51 Mauritius 10
52 52 Seychelles 7
53 53 Sao Tome e Principe 0

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.

2014 FIFA World Cup seeding update (11 February 2011)

Next update: 1 April 2011

See more info in the original 2014 FIFA World Cup seeding post.

Japan, Australia, Korea Republic replace Portugal, Egypt and Uruguay because of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.

This is the top 20 of the intermediate October 2013 FIFA ranking:

1 Netherlands 233
2 Spain 228
3 Japan 209
4 Argentina 201
5 Australia 197
6 Germany 194
7 Korea Republic 189
8 Iran 181
9 Egypt 174
10 England 154
11 Portugal 148
12 Uruguay 147
13 Norway 142
14 Brazil 141
15 Greece 139
16 Croatia 132
16 Jordan 132
18 Montenegro 131
19 Slovenia 129
19 Jamaica 129

France are 28th, Italy 38th, USA 47th, Mexico 62nd.

Right now, the seeds for the 2014 World Cup would be: Brazil (hosts), Spain (holders), Netherlands, Japan, Argentina, Australia, Germany and Korea Republic.

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.

FIFA Ranking without friendly games (February 2011)

By request of a Ghanaian national team supporter.

This is the top 50 of the February 2011 FIFA ranking without friendly games. Developmental tournaments are considered friendlies by FIFA. AFC Challenge Cup, AFF Cup, EAFF Championship, Gulf Cup, WAFF Cup, COSAFA Cup, CECAFA Cup etc.

Top 50 teams only (in at least one of the two rankings)

Most places gained:

37 - Jordan
27 - Botswana
17 - Paraguay
16 - South Africa and Panama
15 - New Zealand
14 - Iran
10 - Denmark
9 - Lithuania
7 - Honduras

Most places lost:

-56 - Ukraine
-35 - Burkina Faso
-23 - Colombia
-17 - Guinea
-14 - Bosnia-Herzegovina
-10 - Norway
-9 - Sweden
-8 - Russia and Egypt
-7 - Slovenia, France, Croatia and Cameroon

Order of columns:

- Rank
- Team
- Points
- Rank in the official February 2011 FIFA Ranking
- Points in the official February 2011 FIFA Ranking

1 Spain 2608 1 1887
2 Netherlands 2480 2 1723
3 Argentina 2181 5 1367
4 Brazil 2088 4 1446
5 Germany 2073 3 1485
6 England 1615 6 1195
7 Paraguay 1544 24 832
8 Uruguay 1537 7 1152
9 Chile 1486 14 947
10 Ghana 1422 15 940
11 Japan 1365 17 882
12 Italy 1336 13 965
13 Portugal 1332 8 1090
14 Slovakia 1322 20 854
15 Greece 1310 10 1016
16 Croatia 1287 9 1075
17 USA 1236 18 869
18 Denmark 1211 28 802
19 Switzerland 1200 22 841
20 Russia 1159 12 982
21 Norway 1156 11 995
22 Côte d'Ivoire 1151 26 813
23 Slovenia 1141 16 897
24 Mexico 1121 27 803
25 Australia 1110 21 847
26 France 1106 19 867
27 Serbia 1099 23 837
28 Korea Republic 1075 32 735
29 Montenegro 963 25 824
30 Iran 922 44 571
31 South Africa 893 47 562
32 Honduras 868 39 613
33 Northern Ireland 846 38 615
34 Hungary 838 37 632
35 Czech Republic 836 30 751
36 Turkey 818 31 741
37 Belarus 804 36 655
38 Sweden 799 29 759
39 Republic of Ireland 779 35 681
40 Botswana 774 67 496
41 Egypt 733 33 709
42 Costa Rica 727 48 560
43 Nigeria 702 40 604
44 Panama 697 60 518
45 Austria 683 45 569
46 Lithuania 679 55 532
47 Jordan 678 84 399
47 Tunisia 678 48 560
49 New Zealand 676 64 506
50 Cameroon 633 43 582

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.

FIFA Ranking: March 2011 preview (II)

Next update: March 4th, 2011.

FIFA will publish the March ranking on March 9th.

Cyprus - Sweden 0 - 2 was removed from the list of "A" matches, because Cyprus made 7 substitutions.

Only a couple of matches left before the deadline.

14 Feb Bahrain - Kuwait
16 Feb Macau - Cambodia
16 Feb Laos - Chinese Taipei

This is how the values could change for these 6 teams:

Bahrain (L: 339, D: 344, W: 352)
Kuwait (L: 304, D: 308, W: 316)
Chinese Taipei (L: 107, D: 114, PSO Win: 121, W: 128)
Cambodia (L: 94, D: 102, PSO Win: 111, W: 119)
Laos (L: 52, D: 57, PSO Win: 63, W: 68)
Macau (L: 14, D: 22, PSO Win: 31, W: 39)

The values displayed in the table below are the lowest possible.

FIFA.com also lists the two legs of the Afghanistan - Bhutan AFC Challenge Cup playoff. However, the first leg, scheduled for Feb 9 was postponed and I'm not sure when and if they will play. For the purpose of this preview I assumed they won't play.

Two changes in the top 10. Argentina overtake Brazil for 4th, while Portugal drop to 9th, with Croatia moving up.

American Samoa, Anguilla, Montserrat, Papua New Guinea and San Marino climb 1 place to join Andorra in the 202nd spot.

Best movers:

18 - Equatorial Guinea
14 - Luxembourg
12 - Jamaica and Cambodia

Worst movers:

-21 - Turkmenistan
-17 - Bangladesh
-16 - Austria

Best movers in the top 50:

12 - Jamaica
6 - Ecuador
3 - Serbia, Korea Republic, Tunisia and Scotland

Worst movers in the top 50:

-16 - Austria
-14 - Bosnia-Herzegovina
-5 - Costa Rica

Jamaica rise to 4th in CONCACAF, with Costa Rica dropping to 5th.

Argentina now first in CONMEBOL, replacing Brazil.

Portugal drop out of the European top 5, replaced by Croatia.

Three teams will improve their best ever ranking:

Hungary (36th - 37th in February 2011)
Antigua and Barbuda (101st - 103rd in January 2011)
Cambodia (154th - 156th in July 1998)

Sri Lanka will drop to 173rd - their worst ever ranking. They were 170th in February 2008.

February 2011 rank - Team - February 2011 points - +/- Ranking - +/- Points

1 Spain 1880 0 -7
2 Netherlands 1730 0 7
3 Germany 1486 0 1
4 Argentina 1412 1 45
5 Brazil 1411 -1 -35
6 England 1212 0 17
7 Uruguay 1172 0 20
8 Croatia 1071 1 -4
9 Portugal 1060 -1 -30
10 Greece 1038 0 22
11 Italy 957 2 -8
11 Norway 957 0 -38
13 Russia 956 -1 -26
14 Chile 954 0 7
15 Japan 938 2 56
16 Ghana 931 -1 -9
17 Slovenia 916 -1 19
18 France 913 1 46
19 USA 894 -1 25
20 Serbia 872 3 35
21 Australia 870 0 23
22 Slovakia 861 -2 7
23 Switzerland 839 -1 -2
24 Paraguay 835 0 3
25 Côte d'Ivoire 824 1 11
25 Montenegro 824 0 0
27 Mexico 811 0 8
28 Denmark 788 0 -14
29 Korea Republic 749 3 14
30 Sweden 744 -1 -15
31 Czech Republic 739 -1 -12
32 Turkey 728 -1 -13
33 Ukraine 707 1 5
34 Republic of Ireland 699 1 18
35 Egypt 685 -2 -24
36 Hungary 654 1 22
37 Belarus 634 -1 -21
38 Honduras 620 1 7
39 Nigeria 609 1 5
40 Burkina Faso 605 1 7
40 Northern Ireland 605 -2 -10
42 Cameroon 580 1 -2
43 Iran 574 1 3
44 Guinea 570 2 6
45 Tunisia 568 3 8
46 South Africa 565 1 3
47 Jamaica 555 12 30
48 Ecuador 553 6 16
49 Bulgaria 552 2 -3
50 Colombia 551 0 -7
50 Scotland 551 3 9
52 Romania 549 5 18
53 Costa Rica 542 -5 -18
54 Lithuania 541 1 9
55 Algeria 539 0 7
56 Bosnia-Herzegovina 534 -14 -49
56 New Zealand 534 8 28
58 Israel 532 -6 -19
59 Peru 530 9 44
60 Gabon 526 1 10
61 Austria 524 -16 -45
62 Belgium 512 -4 -14
63 Venezuela 505 0 -8
64 Cuba 503 1 5
65 Armenia 501 -3 -13
66 Morocco 493 8 50
67 Botswana 487 0 -9
68 Panama 482 -8 -36
69 Senegal 477 0 18
70 Poland 474 1 25
71 Libya 472 -1 21
72 Georgia 469 -1 20
73 Latvia 468 3 39
74 Albania 464 -8 -33
74 Cape Verde Islands 464 -1 20
76 China PR 439 -1 8
77 Uzbekistan 438 0 14
78 Finland 427 0 5
79 Saudi Arabia 416 3 6
80 Benin 413 3 10
81 Jordan 410 3 11
82 FYR Macedonia 400 -3 -18
83 Estonia 399 4 13
84 Canada 390 -4 -24
85 Mali 389 -1 -10
86 Uganda 385 0 -9
87 Moldova 383 -6 -28
88 Malawi 381 1 10
89 Iraq 379 -1 -2
90 Qatar 377 0 9
91 Cyprus 376 0 9
92 El Salvador 373 6 26
93 Mozambique 368 1 17
94 Grenada 360 -2 3
95 Trinidad and Tobago 352 -1 1
96 Bahrain 339 -3 -15
97 Bolivia 332 2 -12
97 Zambia 332 4 2
99 Haiti 325 -3 -24
100 Azerbaijan 321 -1 -23
101 Antigua and Barbuda 313 3 10
102 Togo 311 1 -2
103 Kuwait 304 -2 -26
104 Angola 299 3 2
104 Niger 299 -8 -50
106 Sudan 298 0 -3
107 Gambia 297 1 7
108 Syria 295 -3 -7
109 Guyana 284 3 10
110 Oman 275 0 -6
111 United Arab Emirates 264 0 -14
112 Central African Republic 263 2 0
113 Korea DPR 259 -4 -30
114 Suriname 257 3 0
115 Iceland 256 -1 -7
116 Wales 251 0 -10
117 Luxembourg 248 14 63
118 Thailand 247 2 10
119 St. Kitts and Nevis 245 -1 3
120 Congo 240 -1 1
121 Tanzania 235 2 4
122 Sierra Leone 233 -1 0
123 Congo DR 232 -1 0
124 Ethiopia 231 -1 0
125 Guatemala 220 1 0
126 Yemen 219 -1 -11
127 Zimbabwe 213 -14 -51
128 Kenya 202 -1 -6
129 Indonesia 201 0 9
130 Dominica 193 -2 -3
131 Puerto Rico 187 -1 0
132 Kazakhstan 178 5 17
133 Rwanda 175 2 4
134 Vietnam 172 0 0
135 Faroe Islands 171 0 0
136 Guinea-Bissau 168 10 47
137 Barbados 167 -5 -16
138 Malaysia 145 2 0
139 Singapore 142 3 3
140 Namibia 139 -2 -18
141 Hong Kong 138 2 0
142 Chad 135 -3 -12
143 Liechtenstein 134 4 18
144 Burundi 133 0 -1
145 India 126 0 0
146 Netherlands Antilles 115 4 8
147 Equatorial Guinea 113 18 41
147 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 113 1 3
147 Tajikistan 113 -6 -28
150 Chinese Taipei 107 4 14
151 Philippines 106 1 5
152 Fiji 103 -1 0
153 New Caledonia 97 0 0
154 Cambodia 94 12 26
154 Turkmenistan 94 -21 -88
156 Madagascar 91 -1 0
156 Malta 91 7 15
158 Cayman Islands 90 -2 2
159 Swaziland 86 -1 4
160 Liberia 82 -2 0
161 Maldives 81 -1 0
161 Myanmar 81 -12 -27
163 Vanuatu 76 0 0
164 Nicaragua 75 -3 -4
165 Bermuda 74 2 7
166 Belize 66 3 2
166 Dominican Republic 66 2 0
168 Lesotho 63 3 1
169 Lebanon 58 3 -3
170 Pakistan 56 3 0
171 Nepal 54 3 0
172 Laos 52 -3 -12
173 Sri Lanka 51 -12 -28
174 Bangladesh 49 -17 -35
174 Kyrgyzstan 49 1 -1
174 Mauritania 49 2 0
177 British Virgin Islands 41 0 0
178 Eritrea 40 0 0
178 Palestine 40 0 0
178 Solomon Islands 40 0 0
181 St. Lucia 37 0 0
182 Mongolia 32 0 0
183 Tahiti 31 0 0
184 Samoa 26 0 0
185 Somalia 23 0 0
186 Comoros 19 0 0
187 Cook Islands 17 1 0
187 Guam 17 1 0
187 Tonga 17 1 0
190 Mauritius 16 1 0
191 Djibouti 15 1 0
192 Macau 14 1 0
193 Bahamas 13 1 0
193 Turks and Caicos Islands 13 -7 -6
195 Afghanistan 10 0 0
195 Seychelles 10 0 0
197 Bhutan 9 0 0
197 Brunei Darussalam 9 0 0
199 Aruba 7 0 0
200 US Virgin Islands 5 0 0
201 Timor-Leste 3 0 0
202 American Samoa 0 1 0
202 Andorra 0 0 -2
202 Anguilla 0 1 0
202 Montserrat 0 1 0
202 Papua New Guinea 0 1 0
202 San Marino 0 1 0

About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.