September 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 September 2014 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 August were again Sierra Leone, this time far ahead of the pack - no less than 97 teams had the Stars as their recommended opponent. Aruba (45) and Armenia (32) were the other teams in the top 3.


Of the top 20 teams, 5 would have gained points: Spain, Italy, USA, England and Croatia, with the last two even climbing in the rankings.

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

25 - Togo
24 - Equatorial Guinea
23 - Haiti and Cuba

Sierra Leone were the recommended opponent for all 4.

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

22 - Venezuela
12 - Paraguay
10 - Hungary

Armenia were the recommended opponent for the 2 South American teams. Hungary opponent would have been Sierra Leone.

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

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

---

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.