August 2014: 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 August 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 and their recommended opponent

The most popular opponent for the month of July were again Sierra Leone - best opponent for 51 teams. However, Aruba (46) and Iceland (44) were not far behind.



Of the top 20 teams, only 3 would have gained points:Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and England, but none of them would have climbed in the rankings.

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

19 - Haiti
16 - Guinea and Togo
14 - New Zealand

Sierra Leone were the recommended opponent for Haiti and Togo, while Iceland were the recommended opponent for Guinea and New Zealand.

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

16 - Guinea
5 - Sierra Leone
4 - Slovenia, Montenegro, Peru

Iceland were the recommended opponent for all teams, except Sierra Leone - their opponent would have been Luxembourg.

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

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

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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.