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Friday, February 5, 2016

FIFA Ranking: March 2016 preview

FIFA will publish the ranking on 3 March.

Apparently, FIFA have a mistake in the February ranking points for Congo DR and Burundi. The only explanation I have is the 15 Nov 2015 FIFA World Cup qualifier between these two teams was awarded to Congo DR, despite finishing 2 - 2 on the field. However, while this would solve the point differences, there has been no announcement on FIFA.com.

Ed found the announcement. However, the match still shows up as 2:2 on FIFA.com.



9 matches left - all friendlies. Although FIFA doesn't have yet the final and 3rd placed final of CHAN 2016, I've included them anyway.

This is how the points and ranks could change for the 17 teams involved.

Team - Minimum points - Maximum points - Worst rank - Best rank


Mexico 886 902 23 22
USA 777 792 33 30
Côte d'Ivoire 719 744 38 36
Senegal 603 641 48 44
Panama 562 576 60 55
Congo DR 545 564 63 57
Guinea 540 568 63 56
Mali 490 511 73 67
Uzbekistan 469 484 76 74
Canada 385 418 88 82
Honduras 375 392 89 87
El Salvador 340 366 99 93
Guatemala 336 354 100 95
Bahrain 254 269 138 132
Lebanon 215 254 145 138
Guyana 140 165 161 156
Suriname 57 82 190 181


In the table below I've used the minimum points.

Best movers:

7 - Armenia
6 - Venezuela, Kazakhstan

Worst movers:

-15 - São Tomé e Príncipe
-14 - Chad
-11 - Equatorial Guinea

Best movers in the top 50:

3 - Poland
2 - Cape Verde Islands
1 - Italy, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Albania, Peru, Serbia

Worst movers in the top 50:

-8 - Côte d'Ivoire
-1 - Netherlands, Slovakia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Norway

Cape Verde Islands will replace Côte d'Ivoire as the top team in Africa. The Ivorians will fall to 3rd if they don't win the CHAN 2016 3rd place final avoiding PSO.

Os Tubarões Azuis (The Blue Sharks) will lead the pack for the first time ever. This is a list of the top teams in Africa since the ranking was created and the number of editions they have been at the top.

1 Cameroon 60
2 Nigeria 45
3 Côte d'Ivoire 44
4 Morocco 31
5 South Africa 18
6 Algeria 17
7 Egypt 16
8 Ghana 10
8 Zambia 10
10 Tunisia 9


Japan climb from 4th to 2nd in Asia.

With a win vs. Canada today, the US will climb to 2nd in CONCACAF.

Moldova will fall to new worst ever ranking (156 - 155 in December 2015).

Some teams will reach their best ranking in the last couple of years:

Turkmenistan (113 - 112 in November 2005) - 10 years and 4 months
Swaziland (124 - 123 in July 2008) - 7 years and 8 months
Northern Ireland (28 - 27 in June 2009) - 6 years and 9 months

Others will drop to their worst ever ranking in the last couple of years:


Bahrain (at most 132 - 138 in January 2001) - 15 years and 2 months
Côte d'Ivoire (at most 36 - 38 in June 2009) - 6 years and 9 months


Cape Verde Islands will be ranked above Côte d'Ivoire for the first time ever.
Albania will be ranked above Côte d'Ivoire for the first time ever.
Kazakhstan will be ranked above Lithuania for the first time ever.
Kazakhstan will be ranked above Bahrain for the first time in the last 13 years and 7 months.

March 2016 rank - Team - March 2016 points - +/- Ranking - +/- Points

1 Belgium 1506 0 12
2 Argentina 1457 0 2
3 Spain 1374 0 4
4 Germany 1355 0 8
5 Chile 1307 0 14
6 Brazil 1254 0 3
7 Portugal 1234 0 15
8 Colombia 1215 0 4
9 England 1112 0 6
10 Austria 1095 0 4
11 Uruguay 1082 0 8
12 Switzerland 1070 0 20
13 Ecuador 1039 0 -1
14 Italy 999 1 8
15 Netherlands 997 -1 3
16 Romania 990 0 3
17 Wales 984 0 10
18 Croatia 965 0 7
19 Hungary 951 0 6
20 Turkey 943 0 10
21 Bosnia and Herzegovina 917 0 12
22 Russia 892 1 -3
23 Mexico 886 -1 -12
24 France 871 0 3
25 Czech Republic 861 0 1
26 Slovakia 858 -1 -2
27 Ukraine 845 0 3
28 Northern Ireland 833 1 8
29 Republic of Ireland 809 1 -1
30 Cape Verde Islands 789 3 -1
30 Poland 789 4 2
32 Costa Rica 784 -1 -15
33 USA 777 -1 -16
34 Sweden 769 1 -2
35 Albania 754 1 8
36 Algeria 743 0 -3
37 Iceland 741 1 17
38 Côte d'Ivoire 739 -10 -89
39 Greece 718 0 12
40 Denmark 706 0 14
41 Ghana 656 0 -35
42 Peru 646 1 2
43 Paraguay 642 -1 -10
44 Iran 627 0 1
45 Scotland 617 1 8
46 Finland 615 1 9
47 Tunisia 609 1 6
48 Senegal 603 -3 -18
49 Trinidad and Tobago 598 0 0
50 Serbia 596 1 6
51 Norway 594 -1 -3
52 Jamaica 593 -1 3
53 Egypt 587 2 16
54 Slovenia 577 5 12
55 Japan 575 3 6
56 Korea Republic 566 -3 -14
57 Congo 564 -3 -15
58 Panama 562 2 -2
58 Saudi Arabia 562 -3 -9
60 Congo DR 557 -3 -13
61 Guinea 554 0 -5
62 Cameroon 551 0 4
63 Nigeria 547 0 4
64 Belarus 517 3 3
64 Haiti 517 1 -3
64 United Arab Emirates 517 1 -3
67 Australia 506 1 -4
67 Israel 506 6 8
67 Uganda 506 3 3
70 Mali 502 -2 -8
71 Bulgaria 500 4 6
71 South Africa 500 2 2
73 Bolivia 499 -1 -1
74 Venezuela 480 7 57
75 Equatorial Guinea 479 -11 -51
76 Uzbekistan 469 -5 -33
77 Benin 464 0 6
78 Zambia 457 -2 -25
79 Cyprus 442 0 1
80 Qatar 441 -2 -3
81 Morocco 424 -1 -1
82 Jordan 414 0 -4
83 Gabon 412 0 -4
84 Montenegro 409 0 6
85 Burkina Faso 405 0 3
86 Rwanda 397 -1 -5
87 Canada 385 -2 -17
88 Estonia 376 0 -3
89 Honduras 375 2 5
90 Antigua and Barbuda 373 0 2
91 Iraq 371 -2 -1
92 Botswana 370 0 3
93 Faroe Islands 357 1 0
94 Korea DPR 356 1 6
95 China PR 351 -2 -14
96 Oman 342 1 -3
97 Latvia 341 3 3
98 El Salvador 340 0 -4
99 Mozambique 337 3 3
100 Guatemala 336 -4 -11
101 Liberia 333 0 -4
101 Togo 333 2 4
103 Kenya 331 -4 -8
104 Malawi 329 0 2
105 Kyrgyzstan 324 0 0
106 Mauritania 320 1 0
107 Libya 319 -2 -5
108 Niger 312 1 4
109 Angola 306 2 0
110 Central African Republic 302 2 0
110 Nicaragua 302 -2 -9
112 Azerbaijan 300 4 4
113 Aruba 298 1 0
113 Turkmenistan 298 1 0
115 Sierra Leone 297 2 7
116 Armenia 296 7 11
117 Palestine 290 -7 -17
118 St. Kitts and Nevis 289 0 0
119 Thailand 288 1 2
120 Belize 286 0 0
121 Ethiopia 285 3 1
122 Georgia 283 -2 -3
123 Syria 279 2 1
124 Swaziland 277 3 0
125 Kazakhstan 276 6 10
125 Tanzania 276 0 -2
127 Chad 275 -14 -26
128 Lithuania 274 0 0
129 Burundi 273 -10 -15
130 Madagascar 272 -1 0
131 Zimbabwe 271 0 5
132 Kuwait 265 1 0
132 Namibia 265 2 1
134 Cuba 263 5 13
134 Philippines 263 0 -1
134 Sudan 263 2 2
137 FYR Macedonia 257 1 0
138 Bahrain 254 -8 -15
139 Hong Kong 253 -2 -6
140 South Sudan 246 0 0
141 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 243 3 22
142 Luxembourg 233 0 -4
143 Barbados 227 0 0
144 St. Lucia 216 1 0
145 Lebanon 215 -5 -31
146 Vietnam 210 0 1
147 Guinea-Bissau 207 0 0
148 Singapore 198 0 2
149 New Zealand 196 1 4
150 Tajikistan 193 -2 -3
151 Afghanistan 192 3 9
151 Curaçao 192 -1 0
153 Lesotho 186 -1 0
154 Guam 169 2 0
154 Myanmar 169 -1 -16
156 Moldova 165 -1 -5
157 Maldives 161 0 -1
158 Bermuda 154 0 0
159 Dominican Republic 150 1 0
160 India 142 2 3
161 Guyana 140 1 1
162 Grenada 139 0 0
162 Malta 139 -1 -4
164 Liechtenstein 137 1 2
165 Gambia 135 0 0
166 Malaysia 129 5 3
167 American Samoa 128 0 0
167 Cook Islands 128 0 0
167 Samoa 128 0 0
170 Puerto Rico 127 2 7
170 Timor-Leste 127 0 0
172 Mauritius 120 0 0
173 Comoros 119 1 0
174 São Tomé e Príncipe 117 -15 -35
175 Yemen 112 0 -1
176 Dominica 109 0 2
177 Bangladesh 100 0 0
178 Indonesia 88 2 2
178 Laos 88 0 0
178 US Virgin Islands 88 0 0
181 Chinese Taipei 80 0 0
181 New Caledonia 80 0 0
183 Cambodia 79 0 0
184 Brunei Darussalam 74 0 0
185 Nepal 70 3 4
186 Fiji 68 0 0
187 Montserrat 67 0 0
187 Pakistan 67 -2 -5
189 Sri Lanka 62 0 4
190 Suriname 57 0 0
191 Seychelles 56 0 0
191 Tahiti 56 0 0
193 Bhutan 49 0 0
194 Vanuatu 47 0 0
195 Macau 44 0 0
196 Cayman Islands 42 0 0
197 Turks and Caicos Islands 33 0 0
198 San Marino 28 0 0
199 British Virgin Islands 27 0 0
200 Solomon Islands 26 0 0
201 Andorra 6 0 0
202 Mongolia 4 -1 -2
202 Papua New Guinea 4 1 0
204 Anguilla 0 0 0
204 Bahamas 0 0 0
204 Djibouti 0 0 0
204 Eritrea 0 0 0
204 Somalia 0 0 0
204 Tonga 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.

14 comments:

  1. In this document the match Congo DR - Burundi (2:2) is mentioned as a 3:0 forfeit against Burundi for fielding an ineligible player, together with several other forfeits: http://resources.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/02/75/53/57/disciplinary_overview_fwc_final_feb2016_neutral.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  2. What do you predict Korea Republic's ranking will be in April? Assuming they win two of the scheduled matches with Lebanon and Kuwait? Will we pass Japan? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ماذا تتوقع تصنيف السعودية في اسيا في شهر ابريل ؟ اذا فازت على ماليزيا و خسرت ضد الامارات

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Google Translate, a great invention!

      For a prediction of Saudi Arabia see AFC sims WC 2018

      Delete
  4. With Senegal's loss to Mexico last night, its looking like Tunisia will be ranked 5th best in Africa for the March rankings. Meanwhile, Cape Verde will top the continent, with Ivory Coast in 2nd after winning Bronze in the CHAN, Algeria 3rd, & Ghana 4th.

    So if the draw for the final round of CAF qualifying were held next month, the Tunisians would be seeded, barely, above the Senegalese.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unfortunately for them, Tunisia are on the outside looking in.

      Delete
    2. I mean Tunisia's changes of being seeded are slim.

      Delete
  5. Enter your comment...what about april fifa rank of India assuming we draw aganist iran and win aganist turkminstan ?? and september rank also !

    ReplyDelete
  6. hey two other friendlies are there before 3rd March.
    1 March Jordon vs Burkina faso
    2 March Nicaragua vs El Salvador.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. after deadline day (28.2), so those match won't be counted in March ranking

      Delete