July 2013: Recommended friendly impact

The best opponent to play against is determined using a combination of Elo ratings and FIFA rankings. Let's look at the July FIFA ranking and we'll see the impact of one extra friendly. The difference in ranking is computed assuming all things remain equal, except the points of the given team.

The most popular opponent for the month of June is Central African Republic - the best opponent for no less than 106 teams.

Of the top 20, only Germany, Portugal, Uruguay, England, Russia and Mexico would have gained points. Of these only England would have climbed in the rankings - 2 spots by defeating Denmark. Despite losing 3 points by winning the hypothetical friendly against Croatia, Brazil would have climbed one spot, overtaking their opponents.

Teams from the top 100 that would have gained the most (ranking-wise):

18 - Benin
7 - Angola
6 - Paraguay, Georgia, Tajikistan

Albania were the recommended team for Paraguay. For the other 4 teams - Central African Republic.

Teams from the top 50 that would have gained the most (ranking-wise):

6 - Paraguay
4 - Wales
3 - Sweden and Republic of Ireland

Montenegro were the recommended team for Sweden. For the other 4 teams - Albania.

July Ranking - Team - Recommended opponent - Point difference - Rank difference

1	Spain	Croatia	-5	0
2	Germany	Montenegro	3	0
3	Colombia	Montenegro	-24	-1
4	Argentina	Montenegro	-8	0
5	Netherlands	Montenegro	-8	0
6	Italy	Montenegro	-1	0
7	Portugal	Montenegro	5	0
8	Croatia	Montenegro	-3	0
9	Brazil	Croatia	-3	1
10	Belgium	Montenegro	-21	0
11	Greece	Albania	-6	0
12	Uruguay	Montenegro	9	0
13	Côte d'Ivoire	Montenegro	-4	0
14	Bosnia-Herzegovina	Albania	-16	-2
15	England	Denmark	15	2
16	Switzerland	Montenegro	-7	0
17	Russia	Montenegro	3	0
18	Ecuador	Montenegro	-6	0
19	Peru	Albania	-2	0
20	Mexico	Montenegro	2	0
21	Chile	Montenegro	10	1
22	USA	Albania	-5	0
23	France	Montenegro	14	0
24	Ghana	Albania	-14	0
25	Norway	Montenegro	12	0
26	Czech Republic	Albania	11	1
27	Denmark	Albania	14	2
28	Mali	Albania	2	0
28	Montenegro	Albania	3	0
28	Ukraine	Albania	0	0
31	Sweden	Montenegro	17	3
32	Hungary	Albania	9	0
33	Romania	Albania	4	0
34	Algeria	Albania	4	1
35	Nigeria	Albania	0	0
36	Venezuela	Albania	7	0
37	Albania	Central African Republic	-6	-2
37	Japan	Albania	12	0
39	Costa Rica	Albania	-11	1
40	Australia	Albania	-2	1
41	Serbia	Albania	12	2
42	Burkina Faso	Central African Republic	-6	0
43	Korea Republic	Albania	18	2
44	Republic of Ireland	Albania	17	3
45	Slovenia	Central African Republic	11	2
46	Wales	Albania	19	4
47	Tunisia	Central African Republic	3	1
48	Paraguay	Albania	22	6
49	Cape Verde Islands	Central African Republic	-3	0
50	Scotland	Albania	15	2
51	Panama	Albania	9	1
52	Bulgaria	Albania	6	1
52	Iran	Albania	-4	-2
54	Austria	Albania	14	3
55	Honduras	Albania	-6	-1
55	New Zealand	Albania	-19	-2
57	Turkey	Albania	24	5
58	Uzbekistan	Albania	10	1
59	South Africa	Albania	9	1
60	Zambia	Central African Republic	-1	0
61	Guinea	Central African Republic	5	0
62	Egypt	Albania	19	3
63	Slovakia	Central African Republic	15	3
64	Israel	Albania	14	4
65	Finland	Albania	16	4
66	Armenia	Central African Republic	16	5
67	Equatorial Guinea	Central African Republic	-2	0
68	Bolivia	Albania	-7	-1
69	Haiti	Central African Republic	7	1
70	Libya	Central African Republic	-1	0
71	Cameroon	Central African Republic	-8	-1
72	Togo	Central African Republic	1	0
73	Iceland	Central African Republic	1	0
74	Senegal	Central African Republic	-7	-1
75	Poland	Albania	20	3
76	Jordan	Central African Republic	5	1
77	Jamaica	Central African Republic	-4	-1
78	Belarus	Central African Republic	11	3
79	Morocco	Central African Republic	10	0
80	Uganda	Central African Republic	-5	0
81	Gabon	Central African Republic	18	2
82	Cuba	Central African Republic	-1	0
83	Sierra Leone	Central African Republic	23	3
84	Congo DR	Central African Republic	7	0
85	United Arab Emirates	Albania	-2	0
86	Estonia	Central African Republic	17	2
87	Trinidad and Tobago	Central African Republic	10	1
88	Canada	Central African Republic	0	0
89	Central African Republic	Equatorial Guinea	33	3
90	Congo	Central African Republic	24	3
90	Dominican Republic	Central African Republic	11	1
92	FYR Macedonia	Central African Republic	12	3
93	Guatemala	Central African Republic	10	4
94	El Salvador	Central African Republic	2	1
95	Ethiopia	Equatorial Guinea	7	2
96	Angola	Central African Republic	16	7
97	New Caledonia	Central African Republic	12	5
98	Georgia	Central African Republic	21	6
99	Oman	Central African Republic	7	0
100	China PR	Central African Republic	8	0
101	Iraq	Central African Republic	10	1
102	Mozambique	Central African Republic	21	2
103	Liberia	Central African Republic	15	3
104	Lithuania	Central African Republic	28	4
105	Saudi Arabia	Central African Republic	2	0
106	Tajikistan	Central African Republic	30	6
107	Niger	Central African Republic	20	5
108	Malawi	Central African Republic	19	6
109	Suriname	Central African Republic	25	8
110	Kuwait	Central African Republic	3	2
111	Northern Ireland	Central African Republic	30	10
112	Korea DPR	Albania	17	8
112	Qatar	Central African Republic	12	7
114	Zimbabwe	Central African Republic	25	12
115	Benin	Central African Republic	72	18
116	Botswana	Equatorial Guinea	17	11
117	Azerbaijan	Central African Republic	23	13
118	Bahrain	Central African Republic	11	0
119	Latvia	Central African Republic	30	9
120	Burundi	Central African Republic	34	9
121	Tanzania	Central African Republic	16	3
122	Antigua and Barbuda	Central African Republic	32	4
123	Grenada	Central African Republic	74	22
123	Kenya	Central African Republic	16	4
125	Cyprus	Central African Republic	27	6
125	Moldova	Central African Republic	23	5
127	Namibia	Central African Republic	34	9
128	Guyana	Central African Republic	25	8
129	Lebanon	Central African Republic	12	4
130	Belize	Central African Republic	31	10
131	Puerto Rico	Bhutan	26	9
132	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	Central African Republic	21	7
133	Malta	Central African Republic	26	8
134	Rwanda	Central African Republic	26	9
134	Sudan	Central African Republic	22	7
136	Turkmenistan	Central African Republic	72	22
137	Kyrgyzstan	Central African Republic	25	10
138	Thailand	Central African Republic	18	7
139	St. Kitts and Nevis	Central African Republic	74	21
140	Afghanistan	American Samoa	25	8
141	Luxembourg	Central African Republic	29	9
141	St. Lucia	American Samoa	-9	-3
143	Syria	Central African Republic	23	6
144	Philippines	Central African Republic	14	4
145	Vietnam	Central African Republic	26	2
146	India	Central African Republic	27	3
147	Barbados	Central African Republic	38	6
148	Hong Kong	Central African Republic	24	3
148	Liechtenstein	Central African Republic	29	3
150	Kazakhstan	Central African Republic	36	7
151	Palestine	Central African Republic	23	6
152	Bangladesh	American Samoa	8	4
153	Aruba	American Samoa	4	2
154	Maldives	Central African Republic	46	9
154	Tahiti	Central African Republic	32	8
156	Singapore	Central African Republic	17	3
157	Bermuda	Central African Republic	73	16
158	Nicaragua	Central African Republic	74	17
159	Malaysia	Central African Republic	21	5
160	Chad	Central African Republic	72	17
161	Lesotho	Central African Republic	32	8
162	Solomon Islands	Central African Republic	40	12
163	Myanmar	American Samoa	2	0
164	Gambia	Central African Republic	73	19
165	Dominica	American Samoa	26	11
166	São Tomé e Príncipe	Bhutan	26	10
167	Pakistan	American Samoa	5	0
168	Indonesia	Central African Republic	27	11
169	Nepal	American Samoa	11	2
170	Yemen	Central African Republic	30	6
171	Sri Lanka	American Samoa	26	5
172	Mauritania	Central African Republic	73	21
173	Laos	American Samoa	5	0
174	Faroe Islands	Central African Republic	50	11
175	Chinese Taipei	American Samoa	9	1
176	Guam	American Samoa	5	0
177	Montserrat	American Samoa	26	4
178	Curaçao	American Samoa	26	5
179	Swaziland	Central African Republic	48	10
180	Guinea-Bissau	Central African Republic	73	17
181	Bahamas	American Samoa	26	6
182	Brunei Darussalam	American Samoa	12	3
182	Mauritius	American Samoa	26	7
182	Timor-Leste	American Samoa	25	7
185	Madagascar	Central African Republic	73	20
186	Mongolia	American Samoa	25	10
187	Samoa	American Samoa	26	11
187	US Virgin Islands	American Samoa	26	11
189	Tonga	American Samoa	25	12
189	Vanuatu	Central African Republic	72	22
191	Comoros	American Samoa	25	14
191	Fiji	Central African Republic	72	23
193	British Virgin Islands	American Samoa	26	14
194	Cayman Islands	American Samoa	26	14
195	American Samoa	Bhutan	26	14
196	Eritrea	Central African Republic	73	26
197	Papua New Guinea	Central African Republic	72	26
198	Cambodia	American Samoa	18	5
198	South Sudan	Central African Republic	73	25
200	Seychelles	American Samoa	26	11
201	Somalia	American Samoa	26	8
202	Macau	American Samoa	15	6
203	Djibouti	American Samoa	25	10
204	Cook Islands	American Samoa	25	11
205	Andorra	American Samoa	15	8
206	Anguilla	American Samoa	26	10
207	Bhutan	American Samoa	26	11
207	San Marino	American Samoa	15	6
207	Turks and Caicos Islands	American Samoa	26	11

---

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.