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Friday, March 2, 2012

FIFA Ranking: March 2012 final preview

5 March 2012

Updated to account for the removal of two matches from FIFA.com: Lebanon - Iraq 1 - 0 (22 Jan 2012) and China PR - Kuwait 2 - 0 (22 Feb 2012).
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FIFA will publish the ranking on 7 March.

Netherlands return to 2nd spot, Brazil climb to 5th. Argentina return to the top 10.

Best movers:

54 - São Tomé e Príncipe
30 - Chad
29 - Congo

Worst movers:

-21 - Puerto Rico
-18 - Iceland and Turkmenistan
-13 - Liectenstein

Best movers in the top 50:

10 - Ukraine
7 - Montenegro and Estonia
4 - USA and Korea Republic

Worst movers in the top 50:

-7 - Turkey
-6 - Wales
-4 - Iran and Jamaica

Three teams will improve their best ever ranking:

Estonia (47th - 52nd in January 2012)
Chad (111th - 118th in January 2009)
Sao Tome e Principe (114th - 168th in February 2012)

Aruba will return to their best ever ranking - 164th - first achieved in February 1994.

Seven teams will drop to new lows:

Poland (75th - 73rd in December 2010)
Cyprus (129th - 127th in December 2011)
Thailand (139th - 137th in December 2006)
Barbados (170th - 169th in February 2012)
Myanmar (177th - 174th in February 2012)
Sri Lanka (186th - 182nd in February 2012)
Macau (199th - 197th in August 2008)

Japan drop to 3rd in AFC, overtaken by Korea Republic. China PR out of the AFC top 5, replaced by Uzbekistan.

Netherlands replace Germany as UEFA's 2nd team.

March 2012 rank - Team - March 2012 points - +/- Ranking - +/- Points

1 Spain 1561 0 -5
2 Netherlands 1379 1 20
3 Germany 1332 -1 -37
4 Uruguay 1289 0 -28
5 Brazil 1157 2 5
6 England 1121 -1 -58
7 Portugal 1106 -1 -49
8 Argentina 1102 3 21
9 Italy 1062 -1 -53
10 Croatia 1049 -1 -52
11 Denmark 1025 -1 -65
12 Russia 1003 1 14
13 Greece 953 1 -26
14 Chile 950 -2 -46
15 Côte d'Ivoire 944 0 -23
16 France 938 1 8
17 Sweden 926 1 2
18 Switzerland 891 -2 -59
19 Republic of Ireland 872 1 -21
20 Australia 868 2 36
21 Bosnia-Herzegovina 850 -2 -70
22 Mexico 849 -1 -33
23 Ghana 820 0 1
24 Norway 797 0 4
25 Paraguay 791 2 10
26 Serbia 779 -1 -12
27 USA 772 4 22
28 Slovenia 765 -1 -16
29 Czech Republic 762 0 -13
30 Korea Republic 751 4 37
31 Colombia 748 1 2
32 Turkey 747 -7 -44
33 Japan 740 -3 -22
34 Peru 720 -1 -23
35 Algeria 710 1 26
35 Slovakia 710 3 35
37 Hungary 658 0 -20
38 Israel 651 -3 -57
39 Ecuador 648 1 4
40 Belgium 642 -1 -21
41 Zambia 630 2 0
42 Mali 629 2 4
43 Gabon 617 2 0
44 Armenia 601 -3 -38
44 Montenegro 601 7 16
46 Venezuela 593 0 -22
47 Estonia 585 7 9
48 Wales 580 -6 -55
49 Ukraine 578 10 29
50 Panama 576 -1 -18
51 Iran 574 -4 -32
51 Scotland 574 -3 -28
53 Romania 573 -1 -10
54 Jamaica 571 -4 -18
55 Libya 566 -2 -15
56 Tunisia 564 0 -9
57 Nigeria 557 -1 -16
58 El Salvador 554 -4 -22
59 Costa Rica 550 4 11
60 South Africa 549 -2 -10
61 Egypt 547 0 2
62 Morocco 545 0 2
63 Cape Verde Islands 542 6 65
64 Honduras 533 -5 -16
65 Guinea 509 0 -8
66 Cameroon 505 0 3
67 Uzbekistan 502 10 47
68 China PR 495 8 39
69 Belarus 490 -2 -4
70 Senegal 482 -2 -8
71 Austria 472 0 3
72 Haiti 469 -1 0
73 Sierra Leone 465 -9 -68
74 Georgia 462 7 26
75 Poland 461 -5 -9
76 Iraq 460 3 21
77 Burkina Faso 451 -2 -11
78 Latvia 444 -4 -19
79 Canada 443 -8 -26
80 Albania 432 -2 -20
81 Angola 424 2 0
82 Trinidad and Tobago 423 3 7
83 Jordan 420 -1 -11
84 Finland 412 -5 -27
85 Bulgaria 406 3 -2
86 Guatemala 404 -2 -18
87 Northern Ireland 400 -1 -12
88 Qatar 388 8 16
88 Saudi Arabia 388 1 -19
88 Uganda 388 -1 -23
91 Lithuania 383 2 0
92 Oman 381 3 4
93 Antigua and Barbuda 380 -3 -25
94 Bahrain 373 3 7
95 Kuwait 368 -4 -31
96 Malawi 354 2 -8
97 Togo 349 -3 -31
98 Vietnam 347 2 0
99 Guyana 341 -7 -47
100 Botswana 338 4 10
101 Congo 331 29 86
102 FYR Macedonia 328 -1 -17
103 Bermuda 321 2 0
104 Mozambique 319 -2 -13
105 Rwanda 316 3 8
106 Bolivia 307 1 -2
106 Zimbabwe 307 -7 -41
108 Equatorial Guinea 305 2 0
109 Sudan 300 2 -2
110 Korea DPR 299 -4 -15
111 Chad 293 30 86
112 Kenya 292 11 25
113 Niger 289 -2 -13
114 Sao Tome e Principe 288 54 175
115 St. Kitts and Nevis 287 2 0
116 Congo DR 286 3 6
117 Azerbaijan 285 -8 -21
117 Cuba 285 -1 -5
117 Faroe Islands 285 1 0
120 New Zealand 284 0 13
121 Iceland 277 -18 -53
122 United Arab Emirates 275 10 32
123 Gambia 271 -8 -21
124 Lebanon 270 -10 -29
125 Liberia 268 0 10
126 Syria 267 -4 -3
127 Benin 264 9 27
127 Luxembourg 264 6 24
129 Cyprus 262 -2 10
130 Suriname 254 -4 0
131 Central African Republic 251 -3 0
132 Burundi 250 11 51
132 Namibia 250 -12 -21
134 Puerto Rico 249 -21 -52
135 Dominican Republic 247 -6 0
136 Belize 238 -1 0
137 Grenada 236 -4 -4
137 Liechtenstein 236 -13 -27
139 Thailand 235 -9 -10
140 Ethiopia 231 -3 1
141 Tanzania 228 -2 4
142 Kazakhstan 224 -4 -1
143 Moldova 216 -1 11
144 Nicaragua 211 0 22
145 Tajikistan 210 -5 -8
146 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 188 -1 16
147 Indonesia 160 -1 -1
148 Malta 152 11 19
148 Yemen 152 -1 -7
150 Samoa 149 1 0
150 Singapore 149 -2 -6
152 Malaysia 148 -2 -5
153 Nepal 144 -1 0
154 Curacao 142 -1 0
155 Bahamas 141 -1 0
156 Philippines 136 0 -3
157 Fiji 133 2 0
158 Hong Kong 132 5 6
158 India 132 -4 -9
160 Lesotho 131 1 0
160 Palestine 131 2 3
162 New Caledonia 126 1 0
163 Madagascar 123 -5 -12
164 Aruba 120 1 0
164 Bangladesh 120 -7 -18
166 Cambodia 114 6 10
167 Turkmenistan 113 -18 -41
168 Chinese Taipei 110 -2 -6
168 Guinea-Bissau 110 -2 -6
170 Barbados 107 -1 0
171 Mongolia 106 -1 0
172 Vanuatu 103 1 0
173 Laos 96 -2 -9
174 Dominica 95 2 0
174 Maldives 95 1 -3
176 Tonga 88 1 0
177 Myanmar 86 -3 -13
178 Afghanistan 85 0 0
179 Swaziland 83 0 0
180 US Virgin Islands 82 0 0
181 Pakistan 76 0 0
182 Solomon Islands 75 0 0
183 Tahiti 73 1 0
184 Cayman Islands 72 1 0
185 St. Lucia 65 1 0
186 Sri Lanka 62 -4 -13
187 American Samoa 61 0 0
188 Comoros 55 0 0
189 Seychelles 47 0 -6
190 Eritrea 45 0 0
191 Somalia 43 0 0
192 Kyrgyzstan 39 0 -3
193 Guam 36 0 0
194 Papua New Guinea 34 0 0
195 Mauritius 32 0 0
196 Cook Islands 28 1 0
197 British Virgin Islands 23 1 0
197 Djibouti 23 1 0
199 Macau 20 -3 -9
200 Anguilla 9 0 0
201 Bhutan 6 0 0
201 Brunei Darussalam 6 0 0
203 Mauritania 4 0 0
204 Timor-Leste 2 0 0
205 Andorra 0 0 0
205 Montserrat 0 0 0
205 San Marino 0 0 0
205 Turks and Caicos Islands 0 0 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.

23 comments:

  1. Good work Edgar

    next month (4)

    if Libya will not play any match they will be more then 600 points for the first time
    602 points for Libya
    this will make Libya in the top 50 99% :)
    for the first time since 1993

    Hussein Budejaja

    ReplyDelete
  2. Poland's drop getting sillier by every month.. now even behind Haiti!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I’m not sure if you had read my other comment, but FIFA has removed the match between Iraq and Lebanon on January 22nd, and this will give Iraq +17pts (460 instead of 443) and Lebanon -7pts (270 instead of 277)…:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did read it, but I was on a different computer and I had the flu :)

      I have updated the values.

      Delete
  4. Does this include the 5 matches FIFA changed from results to "Awarded" recently.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. well, I guess not, because these changes only concerned CONCACAF countries, and also the results (win/loss) didn't change...

      Delete
  5. @EngelRS4
    Can we know the reason why Iraq&Lebanon removed from Ranking? This is very important point for FIFA Ranking transparency for other cases also!

    Tarek

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Tarek,
      I'm sorry, but I also have no clue why this match has been removed... I had just noticed that it disappeared from the matchlist at fifa.com...

      and btw. I also noticed (but don't know why) the match between China and Kuwait on Feb 22nd was removed too…

      Delete
    2. Most likely one or both the teams involved asked for the match to be removed.

      Delete
    3. well in this case, it was most probably Iraq who wanted to have it removed...;)

      Delete
  6. China - Kuwait , more than 6 subs.

    ReplyDelete
  7. @ EDGAR
    I think that FIFA Should control more "Considering match or not". As Example, Jordan Vs Thailand friendly Match on Oct,2011 which finished 0-0, there was 10 subs, and it was considered in FIFA Ranking?!!
    Tarek

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why did not Jordan FA report that the match should not be counted as "A" match because there were too many subs ?

      Delete
    2. Exactly, why didn't Jordan FA report this?

      Delete
  8. any special coverage for afc presidents cup results??

    ReplyDelete
  9. @ Edgar.... I do wonder whether the integrity of the rankings in starting to be compromised by omitting games. If a nation knows that their rankings points will drop even by winning a friendly they can throw on an extra couple of substitutions and have the game disregarded. Thoughts?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes, I agree concerning your general thought (to influence including of matches by making more substitutions than allowed)

      although in this case, this couldn’t have been the reason, because neither Lebanon nor Iraq did more than 6 substitutions…

      so my guess is that this match was removed due to the fact that all officials (referee and linesmen) were Lebanese…

      Delete
  10. @Clifton,EDGAR
    You are right, specially that the countries are interested in Ranking now beacuse it affects Draw POTs, so FIFA should control this more.Considering Matches Should be clear before the result/end of match. Tarek

    ReplyDelete
  11. When will be deadline for 06/06/2012 ranking update?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The official deadline - on 31 May 2012. FIFA might include more matches though.

      Delete
  12. Azerbaijan v Palestine on 29.2 removed as FIFA did not approve the change of referee for the match.

    I can give an insight on how the match report process works.

    In FIFA's regulations, every FA must tell FIFA IN ADVANCE about any upcoming matches. In reality, this does not happen and FIFA does nothing. They rely on third party sources for information instead. In the regulations, FAs should be fined if they do not submit a match report. In reality, this does not happen, and FIFA does nothing.

    On some occasions, FAs DO submit official match reports to FIFA. In these cases, FIFA must go by what the match report says. If the match report says "we used 3 substitutes", then this becomes official for FIFA (even if the FA actually used more than 6 subs, but wrote something different in the match report - this has happened already more than once).

    FIFA now has a separate A match committee to deal specifically with these cases and communicate directly with FAs.

    I have always said FIFA would make things easier for themselves with this simple plan:

    Buy every FA a fax machine/Blackberry/any kind of communication device.
    Tell them to fax/email/text match reports to FIFA after every game.
    Alternatively, make it the responsibility of the match referee as part of his match report.

    In this day and age, FIFA should not be missing matches played by their own FAs. But it happens. Sometimes FIFA knows nothing about certain matches, despite the fact that they have been organised by FAs in membership of FIFA.

    ReplyDelete