FIFA rankings : A Guide
-----------------------
By Thomas Esamie (thomase@extro.ucc.su.oz.au).
The dreaded FIFA rankings, how do they come about and all that guff. As
promised I am writing up some of the more pertinent points from
'Soccer Australia' (plug!) about the FIFA rankings because there was
interest. Shoulda known really.
The whole is thing is a computer program, devised by self confessed
soccer fanatics Markus Lamprecht and Hanspeter Stamm. Both are University
lecturers in Zuerich.
The following games are taken into consideration for the rankings.
- friendly matches
- qualifying and finals matches for the World Cup
- Continental championship qualifying and final matches
The following are NOT considered
- U17, U20 or U23 (olympic) matches of any kind
- Womens matches
- Indoor matches (If anyone asks me about the Silverdome I will personally
send them 15 copies of the termcap and make them Vinnie Jones' training
partner. Besides I think they mean futsal games)
As a balancing factor the following circumstances are considered when
points for a given game are awarded.
1) Points for winning, drawing or losing
2) Points for goals scored or conceded
3) Bonus points for away matches
4) Multiplying factors for various competitions
5) Regional strenghts and weaknesses
OK, before I go on to explain each of these points I'd like to make it
VERY CLEAR that the figures given are HYPOTHETICAL and are to be used
as a GUIDE only.
1)
Rather than just grant a 2-1-0 points system for wins, draws and losses some
compensatory factors for the relative strength of the two teams involved are
included. Consider the scenario of teams A,B,C and D. Team A is at the top
of World Soccer, B is pretty good, C is OK but nothing special, and D is
struggling against the local U12's.
A v D (ie teams with wildly different skill levels) :
A wins A gets 1 point ; D gets 1 point
Draw A gets 0 points; D gets 2 points
D wins A loses 1 point; D gets 3 points
B v C (ie teams with a small difference in skill) :
B wins B gets 1.9 points ; C gets 0.1 points
Draw B gets 0.9 points ; C gets 1.1 points
C wins B loses 0.1 point ; C gets 2.1 points
A1 v A2 (ie teams of equal strength) :
Ax wins Ax gets 2 points ; Ay gets 0 points
Draw Ax and Ay get 1 point each
The thing to note here is that the total value of points awarded in each case
remains at 2 but they are split in a decidedly more novel fashion. Before
anyone asks for a split of A v C matches I suggest you extrapolate.
2)
I think we can agree that a goal scored by a strong team against a weak team
is not as significant (valuable) as one scored by a weak team against a
stronger one. Savvy? Also it was decided that the first goal by a team
is of the greatest relevance, with subsequent goals being worth less. FIFA
also wants to ensure that goals scored is not as significant as the overall
result so the scheme will always treat the result above all else.
'Soccer Australia' printed a table here and I really don't like it, don't
ask me anything about it because I don't know. I'll just reproduce
some of it to give you an idea of what is meant. I'm not going to write up
more of it so don't ask, I have these visions of a copyright lawyer at my door
with pupils like $'s staring lustily at my hip pocket. Basically the idea is
that you get a little bonus for getting goals, and an incentive not to concede
two more goals when you're down 3-0 (hehe).
Result Much weaker Slightly Stronger Equal
Opponent Opponent Strength
3-1 3 goals scored 0.98 1.21 1.16
1 goal conceded -0.38 -0.32 -0.33
balance 0.60 0.89 0.83
Furthermore if a match goes to penalties only the goals at the end of extra
time are counted, not the penalty goals themselves.
3)
Apparently the away team is given a set value for playing away from home,
the quoted figure was 0.3. Neutral grounds will mean no bonuses are awarded.
Easy one.
4)
The importance of the match will affect the points awarded to the teams.
The numbers are multipliers for the sum of 1), 2) and 3)
Friendly x1.00
Qualifier for Continental championship x1.10
Qualifier for World Cup x1.25
Finals of Continental championship x1.25
Finals of World Cup x1.50
5)
Regional strengths are also factored into the awarding of points. Effectively
you have 5) * 4) * { 1) + 2) + 3) } as a 'formula'. Teams playing against
another from the same Continent will have the following factor assigned.
Europe & South America x 1.00
Africa & North+Central America x 0.90
Asia & Oceania x 0.80
So a game like Brazil v Venezuela is worth the same, factorwise, as
Italy v Germany. A game like Ghana v Nigeria is worth less than
England v the Faroe Islands. Cute eh?
The ratings are updated annually and teams from different continents
playing against one another are given a factor of 1.00, so make your own
conclusions about this one.
Overall I think the considerations (apart from the last one) are reasonable
and while far from perfect they are on the right track. This thing might work
yet, but if it gets used in anything apart from conversations about the
relative merits of teams then it needs a lot of work.
The FIFA end-of-year rankings of 1992, 1993, and 1994
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This is an alphabetical list of FIFA countries stating the number of points
they held at the end of December of the indicated year and the relative
position in parentheses. Only the ranks were available to me for December
1992. If anyone has the actual points please let me know. Also I put a lot
of work into compiling this list from various sources, if you're going to
pass it around accredit it properly (ie to me, Thomas Esamie reachable as
always on thomase@extro.ucc.su.oz.au).
Rankings @ Rankings @ Rankings @
Dec 92 Dec 1993 Dec 1994
Albania ( 86) 15.91 ( 92) 15.07 (100)
Algeria ( 30) 42.12 ( 33) 32.15 ( 57)
Angola (102) 13.16 (101) 13.88 (106)
Antigua (109) 06.70 (128) 07.24 (136)
Argentina 51.47 ( 10) 55.32 ( 8) 56.67 ( 10)
Armenia (N/A) (N/A) 06.41 (141)
Aruba (160) 00.03 (164) 00.02 (173)
Australia ( 45) 34.78 ( 49) 31.71 ( 58)
Austria ( 34) 39.97 ( 35) 35.56 ( 49)
Azerbaijan (N/A) (N/A) 04.77 (147)
Bahamas (162) 00.00 (166) (N/A)
Bahrain ( 88) 21.03 ( 77) 25.71 ( 73)
Bangladesh (133) 09.84 (116) 09.30 (130)
Barbados (114) 10.89 (114) 13.61 (107)
Belarus (146) 04.84 (135) 11.29 (121)
Belgium 47.62 ( 17) 45.08 ( 24) 47.15 ( 24)
Benin (127) 07.22 (126) 05.81 (143)
Bermuda ( 58) 19.68 ( 82) 14.46 (102)
Bolivia ( 87) 30.43 ( 59) 37.03 ( 44)
Botswana (139) 04.19 (138) 05.27 (145)
Brazil 55.89 ( 3) 58.76 ( 3) 67.18 ( 1)
Brunei (140) 01.69 (148) 01.02 (165)
Bulgaria ( 26) 44.07 ( 29) 53.53 ( 16)
Burkino Faso ( 97) 07.72 (123) 16.46 ( 97)
Burundi (100) 13.17 ( 99) 10.74 (126)
Cameroon ( 22) 45.37 ( 23) 43.56 ( 31)
Canada ( 57) 35.88 ( 47) 29.90 ( 63)
Cape Verde Is. (135) 02.18 (145) 01.74 (161)
Cayman Is. (N/A) 01.26 (152) 04.23 (150)
Central African Rep (148) 00.42 (156) 00.01 (174)
Chad (155) 00.01 (165) 00.00 (175)
Chile ( 47) 32.08 ( 55) 36.29 ( 47)
China ( 56) 33.32 ( 52) 37.76 ( 40)
Colombia ( 35) 48.04 ( 21) 52.74 ( 17)
Congo ( 90) 12.82 (102) 12.24 (114)
Costa Rica ( 37) 37.03 ( 42) 27.92 ( 65)
Cuba (144) 00.35 (158) 00.00 (175)
Croatia (113) 08.53 (122) 30.39 ( 62)
Cyprus ( 72) 24.68 ( 71) 26.70 ( 67)
Czech Republic 47.30 ( 18)* 49.48 ( 19)* 41.49 ( 34)
Denmark 51.87 ( 9) 57.07 ( 6) 54.26 ( 14)
Djibouti (N/A) (N/A) 00.41 (169)
Dominican Rep. (141) 01.51 (151) 01.20 (164)
Ecuador ( 65) 35.60 ( 48) 32.50 ( 55)
Egypt ( 21) 43.76 ( 31) 48.25 ( 22)
El Salvador ( 50) 28.16 ( 66) 23.43 ( 80)
England 55.12 ( 5) 54.26 ( 11) 52.48 ( 18)
Equatorial Guinea (151) 00.22 (161) 00.00 (175)
Estonia (132) 11.31 (109) 11.91 (119)
Ethiopia ( 85) 14.85 ( 96) 12.23 (115)
Faeroe Is. ( 94) 10.14 (115) 08.37 (133)
Fiji (106) 11.58 (107) 11.88 (120)
Finland ( 44) 36.08 ( 44) 38.67 ( 38)
France 45.80 ( 19) 51.87 ( 15) 52.30 ( 19)
Gabon ( 55) 30.19 ( 61) 28.23 ( 64)
Gambia (150) 00.49 (154) 12.06 (117)
Georgia (N/A) (N/A) 18.45 ( 92)
Germany 57.36 ( 1) 59.76 ( 1) 61.25 ( 5)
Ghana ( 39) 38.29 ( 38) 46.96 ( 26)
Greece ( 31) 42.09 ( 34) 44.55 ( 28)
Grenada (121) 03.46 (140) 06.26 (142)
Guatemala ( 83) 09.01 (119) 04.41 (149)
Guinea ( 63) 28.93 ( 63) 27.12 ( 66)
Guinea-Bissau (117) 04.95 (133) 11.24 (122)
Guyana (128) 04.85 (134) 03.80 (154)
Haiti (130) 03.03 (142) 08.72 (132)
Honduras ( 40) 37.84 ( 40) 34.11 ( 53)
Hong Kong (119) 11.10 (112) 15.46 ( 98)
Hungary ( 36) 34.49 ( 50) 31.04 ( 61)
Iceland ( 46) 35.92 ( 46) 38.66 ( 39)
India (143) 13.17 ( 99) 13.06 (109)
Indonesia (108) 12.12 (103) 08.26 (134)
Iran ( 61) 30.85 ( 57) 25.28 ( 75)
Iraq ( 82) 28.35 ( 65) 19.73 ( 88)
Ireland 54.37 ( 6) 54.46 ( 10) 57.63 ( 9)
Israel ( 64) 31.00 ( 56) 37.40 ( 42)
Italy 57.20 ( 2) 59.36 ( 2) 61.35 ( 4)
Ivory Coast ( 27) 42.36 ( 32) 47.06 ( 25)
Jamaica ( 67) 20.57 ( 79) 17.51 ( 96)
Japan ( 66) 36.50 ( 43) 40.41 ( 36)
Jordan (110) 17.79 ( 86) 12.35 (113)
Kazakhstan (N/A) (N/A) 04.07 (153)
Kenya ( 76) 24.15 ( 73) 22.39 ( 83)
Kuwait ( 71) 28.75 ( 64) 33.11 ( 54)
Kyrgyzstan (N/A) (N/A) 00.91 (166)
Laos (N/A) 02.29 (144) 01.85 (160)
Latvia ( 99) 18.29 ( 85) 26.27 ( 69)
Lebanon (161) 11.49 (108) 09.57 (129)
Lesotho (142) 04.66 (136) 07.88 (135)
Liberia ( 84) 08.60 (121) 09.92 (127)
Libya (137) 01.57 (150) 00.78 (167)
Lichtenstein (153) 00.31 (159) 03.34 (156)
Lithuania ( 93) 19.35 ( 83) 31.35 ( 59)
Luxembourg (103) 11.20 (111) 09.89 (128)
Macau (N/A) 00.00 (166) 00.00 (175)
Macedonia (N/A) (N/A) 19.22 ( 90)
Madagascar ( 74) 16.24 ( 89) 12.50 (111)
Malawi ( 53) 26.38 ( 68) 22.64 ( 82)
Malaysia ( 91) 20.78 ( 78) 19.29 ( 89)
Maldives (167) 00.00 (166) 01.72 (162)
Mali ( 69) 23.01 ( 75) 34.69 ( 52)
Malta ( 73) 17.39 ( 87) 23.51 ( 78)
Mauritania (134) 01.85 (147) 07.16 (137)
Mauritius (112) 06.66 (129) 05.02 (146)
Mexico ( 25) 51.50 ( 16) 53.68 ( 15)
Moldova (N/A) (N/A) 11.97 (118)
Morocco ( 41) 44.07 ( 29) 42.98 ( 33)
Mozambique (107) 12.11 (104) 17.95 ( 94)
Myanmar @ (N/A) 11.24 (110) 11.08 (124)
Namibia (158) 00.47 (155) 11.16 (123)
Nepal (149) 03.21 (141) 06.84 (138)
Netherlands 53.36 ( 7) 56.76 ( 7) 59.91 ( 6)
Neth. Antilles ( 98) 07.59 (124) 04.18 (152)
New Zealand ( 70) 21.91 ( 76) 15.29 ( 99)
Nicaragua (154) 00.80 (153) 00.65 (168)
Niger ( 81) 20.41 ( 80) 26.19 ( 70)
Nigeria 49.82 ( 13) 51.18 ( 17) 54.39 ( 12)
Northern Ireland ( 43) 37.95 ( 39) 36.79 ( 45)
North Korea ( 77) 30.61 ( 58) 21.50 ( 84)
Norway 49.38 ( 14) 57.91 ( 4) 58.11 ( 8)
Oman (116) 14.64 ( 97) 26.01 ( 71)
Pakistan (145) 02.96 (143) 03.05 (158)
Panama (120) 06.89 (127) 06.47 (140)
Paraguay ( 68) 29.74 ( 62) 19.99 ( 87)
Peru ( 78) 24.49 ( 72) 25.72 ( 72)
Philippines (157) 00.12 (162) 00.08 (171)
Poland 45.76 ( 20) 44.55 ( 27) 43.86 ( 29)
Portugal ( 33) 48.99 ( 20) 50.87 ( 20)
Puerto Rico (122) 12.00 (105) 12.49 (112)
Qatar ( 52) 32.58 ( 54) 31.21 ( 60)
Romania 51.38 ( 11) 53.57 ( 13) 56.61 ( 11)
Russia 52.26 ( 8) 51.91 ( 14) 54.35 ( 13)
San Marino (126) 08.69 (120) 08.85 (131)
Saudi Arabia ( 48) 39.34 ( 36) 44.76 ( 27)
Scotland ( 23) 44.99 ( 25) 43.04 ( 32)
Senegal ( 51) 30.30 ( 60) 35.27 ( 50)
Seychelles (147) 00.42 (156) 00.00 (175)
Sierra Leone ( 79) 18.52 ( 84) 24.09 ( 76)
Singapore ( 89) 23.38 ( 74) 17.62 ( 95)
Slovakia 47.30 ( 18)* 01.67 (149) 37.14 ( 43)
Slovenia (131) 05.70 (130) 22.69 ( 81)
Solomon Is. (136) 01.99 (146) 01.60 (163)
Somalia (N/A) (N/A) 02.89 (159)
South Africa (124) 15.02 ( 95) 32.19 ( 56)
South Korea ( 49) 37.37 ( 41) 40.60 ( 35)
Spain 49.27 ( 15) 57.12 ( 5) 61.80 ( 2)
Sri Lanka (N/A) 05.26 (131) 06.68 (139)
St Kitts & Nevis (N/A) (N/A) 00.00 (175)
St Lucia (118) 04.30 (137) 03.09 (157)
St Vincent & Gren. (105) 07.55 (125) 05.75 (144)
Sudan (N/A) 09.02 (118) 12.17 (116)
Surinam ( 95) 09.38 (117) 14.08 (104)
Swaziland (104) 14.39 ( 98) 10.79 (125)
Sweden 55.63 ( 4) 54.81 ( 9) 61.41 ( 3)
Switzerland 50.85 ( 12) 53.89 ( 12) 58.30 ( 7)
Syria ( 96) 20.32 ( 81) 13.98 (105)
Tahiti (123) 03.82 (139) 04.50 (148)
Taiwan (156) 00.26 (160) 00.14 (170)
Tajikistan (N/A) (N/A) 03.61 (155)
Tanzania ( 80) 11.94 (106) 25.44 ( 74)
Thailand ( 75) 25.97 ( 69) 20.90 ( 85)
Togo (101) 11.02 (113) 20.74 ( 86)
Trinidad & Tobago ( 62) 17.05 ( 88) 18.89 ( 91)
Tunisia ( 38) 38.76 ( 37) 43.61 ( 30)
Turkey ( 42) 33.29 ( 53) 35.90 ( 48)
Turkmenistan (N/A) (N/A) 13.42 (108)
Uganda ( 92) 15.30 ( 94) 18.01 ( 93)
Ukraine (129) 16.11 ( 90) 23.78 ( 77)
United Arab Emir. ( 59) 33.79 ( 51) 36.54 ( 46)
USA ( 24) 46.19 ( 22) 47.84 ( 23)
Uruguay 47.81 ( 16) 51.14 ( 18) 39.18 ( 37)
Uzbekistan (N/A) (N/A) 23.51 ( 78)
Vanuatu (159) 00.05 (163) 00.04 (172)
Venezuela (125) 15.68 ( 93) 12.78 (110)
Vietnam (N/A) 05.12 (132) 04.21 (151)
Wales ( 28) 44.47 ( 28) 37.73 ( 41)
Yemen # (115) 16.06 ( 91) 14.16 (103)
Yemen PDR # (138) (N/A) (N/A)
Yugoslavia ( 29) 26.50 ( 67) 14.97 (101)
Zaire ( 60) 25.20 ( 70) 26.66 ( 68)
Zambia ( 32) 44.92 ( 26) 49.18 ( 21)
Zimbabwe ( 54) 35.98 ( 45) 34.92 ( 51)
* - Rating of the then Representatives of the Czech and Slovak Republics
# - Reunited
@ - Formerly Burma
N/A - Figures were unavailable either due to the authors inability to find
them or because that country's FA was not a member of FIFA at the
given time.
Prepared and maintained by Thomas Esamie for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Thomas Esamie
Last updated: 21 Feb 1995
(C) Copyright Thomas Esamie and RSSSF 1995
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.