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Friday, August 17, 2012

FIFA Ranking: September 2012 preview (II)

Next update: 31 August 2012.

FIFA will publish the ranking on 5 September.

The official deadline for matches is 30 August, thus the India - Cameroon match (31 August) shouldn't be included. However, FIFA do have the habit of moving the deadline - no later than Sunday though.

Ten matches left - all friendlies. Jamaica - Kenya and nine Nehru Cup matches.

Minimum and maximum points and ranks for the teams involved.


Team - Minimum points - Maximum points - Lowest rank - Highest rank


Jamaica 499 514 62 60
Cameroon 459 488 72 65
Kenya 254 281 131 120
Syria 144 294 157 116
Nepal 116 179 166 147
Maldives 108 162 169 150
India 85 110 172 168




For the other 202 teams the points are already final.

In the table below, the values displayed for these 7 teams are the minimum values, thus even if they lose, their totals won't drop.

Best movers:

18 - Bermuda
17 - Tahiti
15 - Dominican Republic

Worst movers:

-31 - Lithuania
-27 - Northern Ireland
-24 - Latvia and Finland

Not a good month for Northern Europe.

Best movers in the top 50:

13 - Belgium
11 - Austria
9 - Slovenia

Worst movers in the top 50:

-9 - Norway and Hungary
-8 - Wales
-7 - Serbia

Uruguay drop to 5th, overtaken by Portugal. No other changes in the top 10.

Seven teams will improve their best ever ranking:

Ecuador (17 - 20 in August 2012)
Mali (32 - 35 in February 2007)
Libya (36 - 38 in August 2012)
Central African Republic (63 - 71 in August 2012)
Dominican Republic (103 - 116 in May 1996)
American Samoa (173 - 182 in August 2012)
South Sudan (197 - 199 in August 2012)

Two teams will return to their worst ever ranking:

Romania (57 - first happened in February 2011)
Mauritania (204 - first happened in December 2011)

Seven teams will drop to new lows:

Finland (96 - 88 in November 2011)
Saudi Arabia (105 - 104 in August 2012)
Northern Ireland (128 - 124 in January 2004)
Cyprus (135 - 133 in April 2012)
Indonesia (167 - 159 in August 2012)
Swaziland (190 - 182 in July 2012)
Kyrgyzstan (197 - 196 in June 2012)

Some changes in the African top 5 - Algeria overtake Ghana and will be 2nd, while Mali pip Libya for 4th. Algeria will be ranked higher than Ghana for the first time since May 2010.

El Salvador drop out of the CONCACAF top 5, with Jamaica entering at the 4th position.

Solomon Islands out of the OFC top 5, replaced by Vanuatu.



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



1 Spain 1617 0 12
2 Germany 1437 0 -37
3 England 1274 0 -20
4 Portugal 1232 1 19
5 Uruguay 1217 -1 -19
6 Italy 1174 0 -18
7 Argentina 1121 0 23
8 Netherlands 1044 0 -9
9 Croatia 1020 0 -30
10 Denmark 1006 0 -11
11 Greece 1001 1 -2
12 Brazil 996 1 5
13 Russia 990 -2 -26
14 Chile 984 1 31
15 France 965 -1 -15
16 Côte d'Ivoire 912 0 -27
17 Ecuador 890 3 54
18 Sweden 875 -1 -34
19 Czech Republic 869 0 15
20 Switzerland 847 3 19
21 Mexico 845 -3 -17
22 Colombia 843 -1 8
23 Japan 793 -1 -36
24 Slovenia 784 9 78
25 Australia 778 -1 -29
26 Republic of Ireland 768 0 -11
27 Korea Republic 763 2 23
28 Algeria 734 6 41
29 Paraguay 728 -2 -19
30 Bosnia-Herzegovina 717 1 -12
31 Ghana 714 1 7
32 Mali 710 7 60
33 USA 697 3 25
34 Norway 682 -9 -98
35 Turkey 678 -5 -57
36 Libya 666 2 11
37 Hungary 663 -9 -83
38 Egypt 634 2 -3
39 Ukraine 628 6 7
40 Belgium 626 13 62
41 Tunisia 625 0 -2
42 Serbia 624 -7 -51
42 Zambia 624 2 1
44 Gabon 617 -1 -7
45 Slovakia 616 -3 -10
45 Wales 616 -8 -42
47 Scotland 610 -1 -1
48 Montenegro 606 2 25
49 Austria 598 11 81
50 Panama 591 4 31
51 Peru 587 -4 -20
52 Venezuela 584 0 14
53 Armenia 575 3 16
54 Iran 573 -6 -17
55 Estonia 572 -6 -15
56 Poland 547 -2 -13
57 Romania 542 -6 -38
58 Nigeria 523 0 -2
59 Sierra Leone 518 -2 -11
60 Senegal 508 1 2
61 Bolivia 501 12 52
62 Jamaica 499 4 20
63 Central African Republic 492 8 30
64 Cape Verde Islands 490 14 49
65 Costa Rica 487 -3 -14
66 El Salvador 481 -2 -9
67 Morocco 478 1 5
68 Guinea 472 6 24
69 Uzbekistan 470 -6 -23
70 Benin 468 7 22
71 Honduras 460 -6 -26
72 Cameroon 459 -13 -61
73 Canada 454 6 15
74 South Africa 448 -7 -26
75 Israel 446 7 19
76 Belarus 443 0 -4
77 Haiti 439 3 4
78 China PR 437 -9 -33
78 Iraq 437 6 17
80 Angola 433 5 26
81 Korea DPR 429 10 37
82 Trinidad and Tobago 420 -2 -15
83 Congo 413 9 38
84 Albania 410 -10 -38
85 Uganda 409 3 10
86 Burkina Faso 406 1 1
87 Georgia 405 10 48
88 Jordan 402 -5 -23
89 Bulgaria 388 5 15
90 Malawi 385 0 -12
91 Guatemala 384 -3 -15
92 Qatar 380 6 26
93 Oman 376 -1 1
94 Latvia 375 -24 -88
95 New Zealand 366 0 0
96 Finland 365 -24 -86
97 FYR Macedonia 364 5 33
98 Zimbabwe 358 8 30
99 Togo 356 0 14
100 Kuwait 348 -4 -11
101 Antigua and Barbuda 340 -1 3
102 Bermuda 333 18 52
103 Dominican Republic 332 15 48
103 Sudan 332 1 3
105 Saudi Arabia 328 -1 -1
106 Luxembourg 326 4 23
107 Azerbaijan 324 1 16
107 Equatorial Guinea 324 4 22
109 Mozambique 312 -2 -4
110 Congo DR 311 5 20
111 Liberia 310 6 23
112 Bahrain 308 -10 -23
113 St. Kitts and Nevis 306 0 8
114 Ethiopia 303 8 30
115 Namibia 299 -2 1
116 Chad 290 2 6
116 Lithuania 290 -31 -117
118 Iceland 283 12 33
119 Tahiti 282 17 68
120 Rwanda 278 5 14
120 United Arab Emirates 278 1 -1
122 Guyana 276 -13 -31
123 Botswana 275 -11 -26
124 Lebanon 271 3 17
125 Niger 267 -10 -24
126 Turkmenistan 266 -3 0
127 New Caledonia 261 14 61
128 Gambia 257 1 6
128 Northern Ireland 257 -27 -79
130 Kenya 254 -4 -5
131 Thailand 244 2 10
132 Tanzania 243 -4 -10
133 Sao Tome e Principe 240 -2 0
134 Burundi 238 -1 4
135 Cyprus 232 -12 -34
136 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 225 7 29
137 Puerto Rico 210 1 0
138 Suriname 207 -3 -22
139 Grenada 206 3 8
139 Malta 206 4 10
141 Moldova 204 -4 -9
142 Kazakhstan 196 3 1
142 Tajikistan 196 -2 -6
144 Nicaragua 195 -5 -8
145 Belize 188 -13 -48
146 Vietnam 183 0 0
147 Cuba 175 2 4
148 Liechtenstein 168 0 -9
149 Philippines 167 1 0
150 Palestine 161 2 8
151 Yemen 154 0 0
152 Solomon Islands 150 7 22
153 Faroe Islands 147 0 -2
154 Fiji 146 1 0
155 Syria 144 -8 -36
156 Malaysia 136 1 2
157 Lesotho 135 10 26
158 Aruba 134 -1 0
159 Hong Kong 133 -5 -14
160 Curacao 129 5 15
160 Singapore 129 2 4
162 Madagascar 127 3 13
163 Samoa 124 10 31
164 Afghanistan 122 0 0
165 Nepal 116 -3 -9
166 Vanuatu 113 -10 -29
167 Indonesia 111 -8 -17
168 Maldives 108 -7 -18
169 Bangladesh 103 0 0
170 Guinea-Bissau 98 -1 -5
171 Tonga 87 3 0
172 American Samoa 85 10 24
172 India 85 -4 -21
174 Dominica 84 -2 -11
175 Barbados 81 -4 -19
176 Chinese Taipei 79 -1 -4
177 Pakistan 72 -1 0
178 US Virgin Islands 70 0 0
179 Sri Lanka 68 0 0
180 Bahamas 66 0 0
181 Cayman Islands 65 -5 -7
182 Mongolia 55 1 0
183 Myanmar 52 1 2
184 St. Lucia 50 3 5
185 Eritrea 45 2 0
185 Guam 45 -1 -5
187 Somalia 43 3 0
188 Cambodia 42 3 2
189 British Virgin Islands 40 2 0
190 Comoros 39 3 0
190 Seychelles 39 -1 -5
190 Swaziland 39 -9 -25
193 Laos 38 1 0
193 Papua New Guinea 38 -7 -8
195 Cook Islands 28 1 3
196 Djibouti 24 2 0
197 Kyrgyzstan 20 -1 -5
197 South Sudan 20 2 0
199 Andorra 15 1 0
200 Macau 13 1 0
200 Mauritius 13 -6 -25
202 Brunei Darussalam 5 0 0
203 Anguilla 4 0 0
204 Mauritania 3 -1 -1
205 Timor-Leste 2 0 0
206 Bhutan 0 0 0
206 Montserrat 0 0 0
206 San Marino 0 0 0
206 Turks and Caicos Islands 0 0 0


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

13 comments:

  1. A fun one here. I've seen people say things in coments sections about England 3rd, "Oh if we don't play/lose, maybe we'll go up again."

    England beat Italy.

    England drop 20pts, Italy drop 18. Welcome to the wonderful World of the FIFA World Rankings! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Edgar, I wonder how many times over the next 4 years you will inform us that South Sudan have improved to their best ever ranking? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That really depends on their form. They could very well be a new Mauritania and hibernate in the lower reaches of the ranking.

      Delete
  3. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/matthew-norman/9481141/Ranking-England-as-world-No-3-is-all-part-of-Fifas-cunning-plan-to-blind-us-to-our-inadequacy.html

    *Facepalm*

    The longer England stay up there, the more fun we shall all have.

    ReplyDelete
  4. In most decent ranking systems on the net, England are in the Top 5. England being at number 3 is probably one of the lesser problems with the ranking.

    Incidentally, Cameroon's matches in the Nehru Cup have today been removed, as Cameroon are playing with their A'/CHAN/local national team.

    Also, some news that some of June's Baltic Cup matches have been removed due to the 4th official not being FIFA approved:

    http://www.palloliitto.fi/uutiset/baltic-cupin-ottelut-poistettu-fifa-rankingista

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hopefully that will continue to include ELO. It's been suspended for some reason...

      Delete
    2. ELO is back.

      And the rise of England continues there also, with a move up a place to 4th for England.

      Delete
    3. The 4th official? Incredible... :) Thanks for the info, Mark!

      Delete
  5. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. England remain 3rd this edition of the rankings, but that will be surely be coming to an end next month.

    Even if England defeat both Moldova and Ukraine, England's score will drop to 1258, while Portugal, despite such lowly opponents in Luxembourg and Azerbaijan, if they beat them both, will rise to 1259. I'm surprised they can do that. Let's see what they're going to drop... it must be a combination of a draw to Cyprus and a loss to Norway dropping from 50% to 30% and a loss to Denmark and win over Malta dropping off the rankings altogether.

    Uruguay also are set to potentially reap big benefits from their Copa America campaign dropping to the 50% zone. I've seen a lot of people getting confused and thinking the Copa America itself has been reduced in value and Uruguay have been punished, but it's the exact opposite with Uruguay able to surge to 1344 if they defeat both Colombia and Ecuador. They'll stay on about the same score if they defeat one and lose to the other. A win and a draw will be enough to take 3rd no matter what England and Portugal do. Argentina also have the potential to take 3rd.

    Italy are in a similar position to England. Italy will drop from 1174 to 1143 even if they defeat both Bulgaria and Malta.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The fun continues in the meanwhile. England still being third is the latest excuse for more. And now I see people comparing Belgium's players to England, saying Belgium are better than England, that Belgium should be higher than where they are, when Belgium haven't done anything with those players and England beat Belgium right before the Euros.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well Lorric, enjoy the fun while it lasts, because you're right: England will drop in the October rankings, I think they will be 6th.

      And as for Belgium: I'm Dutch and I always believed Holland was, is, and will be superior to Belgium when you look at the national teams. And to make my point: Belgium never was reanked above Holland in the FIFA-rankings.

      But I honestly believe times are about to change. Belgium has an enormous potential at the moment, with several players for each position in the team. So in the near future, I believe Belgium will shoot up the rankings, I even believe they have the potential to reach the top-10.

      And I doubt if Holland is able to maintain their top-10 position in the near future.

      Delete
    2. The fun quickly dried up this time.

      Maybe Belgium have been reading what I had to say. England U21s by beating Azerbaijan 2-0 yesterday moved 5pts clear of 2nd place Norway with 1 game to go. Norway with 2 games took on Belgium in Belgium. All we needed was a little Belgian help to win the group with a game to spare, all we needed was Belgium to not lose at home. They lost 3-1. So now England will have the same challenge. Avoid defeat at home vs Norway in the final group deciding game.

      Belgium has potential, but you'd never know it from their current results. The World Cup group they're in presents them with a great chance if they use that talent they have properly.

      Delete