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Top 30 Rankings as of November 2007[1]
Rank	Team	Points	Federation
1	Colombia	1517	CONMEBOL
2	Brazil	1502	CONMEBOL
3	Italy	1498	UEFA
4	Spain	1349	UEFA
5	Germany	1296	UEFA
6	Czech Republic	1290	UEFA
7	France	1243	UEFA
8	Portugal	1241	UEFA
9	Netherlands	1170	UEFA
10	Croatia	1129	UEFA
11	Greece	1114	UEFA
12	England	1113	UEFA
13	Romania	1088	UEFA
14	Scotland	990	UEFA
15	Mexico	985	CONCACAF
16	Turkey	924	UEFA
17	Argentina	904	CONMEBOL
18	Bulgaria	877	UEFA
19	USA	876	CONCACAF
20	Nigeria	875	CAF
21	Paraguay	873	CONMEBOL
22	Russia	861	UEFA
23	Poland	855	UEFA
24	Sweden	853	UEFA
24	Cameroon	853	CAF
26	Israel	852	UEFA
27	Uruguay	831	CONMEBOL
28	Norway	827	UEFA
29	Ukraine	824	UEFA
30	Serbia	820	UEFA

The FIFA World Rankings is a ranking system for men's national teams in football (soccer). The teams of the member nations of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest. A point system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of FIFA-recognized international matches. Under the existing system, rankings are based on a team's performance over the last four years, with more recent results and more significant matches being more heavily weighted to help reflect the current competitive state of a team. The ranking system was most recently revamped after the 2006 World Cup, with the first edition of the new series of rankings issued on July 12, 2006. The most significant change is that the rankings are now based on results over the previous four years instead of the previous eight years. The change is perceived to respond to criticisms that the rankings do not effectively reflect the relative strengths of the national teams. (See section Criticism). The FIFA Womens World Rankings for football (soccer) were introduced in July 2003 as a follow-on to the existing FIFA World Rankings for men. ... Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Colombia. ... CONMEBOL or CSF (CONfederación SudaMEricana de FútBOL, South American Football Confederation) is the governing body of football in most of South America. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Brazil. ... CONMEBOL or CSF (CONfederación SudaMEricana de FútBOL, South American Football Confederation) is the governing body of football in most of South America. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Czech_Republic. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Portugal. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Croatia. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Greece. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England. ... First international  Scotland 0 - 0 England (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Biggest win  Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Ireland; 18 February 1882) Biggest defeat  Hungary 7 - 1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) World Cup Appearances 12 (First in 1950) Best result Winners, 1966 European Championship Appearances 7 (First in... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Romania. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Scotland. ... First international Scotland 0–0 England  (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Biggest win Scotland 11–0 Ireland  (Glasgow, Scotland; 23 February 1901) Biggest defeat  Uruguay 7–0 Scotland (Basel, Switzerland; 19 June 1954) World Cup Appearances 8 (First in 1954) Best result Round 1, all European Championship Appearances 2 (First... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Mexico. ... CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) is the continent-wide governing body for football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Turkey. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Argentina. ... CONMEBOL or CSF (CONfederación SudaMEricana de FútBOL, South American Football Confederation) is the governing body of football in most of South America. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Bulgaria. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) is the continent-wide governing body for football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Nigeria. ... The 53 member CAF (Confederation of African Football) , (French : Confédération Africaine de Football) , (Arabic : الإتحاد الأفريقى لكرة القدم) represents international football in Africa, and organises the African Cup of Nations, CAF Confederation Cup and the African Champions League. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Paraguay. ... CONMEBOL or CSF (CONfederación SudaMEricana de FútBOL, South American Football Confederation) is the governing body of football in most of South America. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Poland. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Sweden. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Cameroon. ... The 53 member CAF (Confederation of African Football) , (French : Confédération Africaine de Football) , (Arabic : الإتحاد الأفريقى لكرة القدم) represents international football in Africa, and organises the African Cup of Nations, CAF Confederation Cup and the African Champions League. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Israel. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Uruguay. ... CONMEBOL or CSF (CONfederación SudaMEricana de FútBOL, South American Football Confederation) is the governing body of football in most of South America. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Norway. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Ukraine. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Serbia. ... First international Brazil 2 - 0 Yugoslavia (Porto Alegre, Brazil; 23 December 1994) First international as Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro 2 - 2 Azerbaijan (Podgorica, SCG; 12 February 2003) First international as Serbia Czech Republic 1 - 3 Serbia (Uherské HradiÅ¡tÄ›, Czech Republic; 16 August 2006) Biggest win Faroe Islands... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. ... This is a list of the mens national football (soccer) teams in the world. ... This article is about an international football organization. ... 2006 World Cup redirects here. ... is the 193rd day of the year (194th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Other alternative systems have been devised, such as the World Football Elo Ratings, based on the Elo rating system used in chess, ranking teams on an all time basis. The UFWC (Unofficial Football World Championships) ranks teams on the number of times they have defended the Unofficial Football World Championship, an award devised solely for that purpose. The World Football Elo Ratings (Elo is pronounced E-L-O despite not being an acronym) is a ranking system for mens national teams in football. ... Chess Go The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess and Go. ... UFWC stands for The Unofficial Football World Championships. ...

History

FIFA World Ranking Leaders

In December 1992, FIFA first published a listing in rank order of its member associations provide a basis for comparison of the relative strengths of these teams. From the following August, with sponsorship from Coca-Cola, this list was more frequently updated, to be published most months.^[2] Significant changes were implemented in 1999 and again in 2006, as a reaction to criticisms of the system. ^[3] Membership of FIFA has expanded from 167 to 208 since the rankings began. The wave shape (known as the dynamic ribbon device) present on all Coca-Cola cans throughout the world derives from the contour of the original Coca-Cola bottles. ...

1999 update

When the rankings were initially introduced, a team received one point for a draw and three for a victory in FIFA-recognized matches - much the same as a traditional league scoring system. This was a quite simplistic approach, however, and FIFA quickly realised that there were many factors affecting international matches. In order to meet the objective of fairly and accurately comparing the relative strengths of various national sides, the system was updated. The major changes were as follows:

• the point ranking was scaled up by a factor of ten
• the method of calculation was changed to take into account factors including:
  • the number of goals scored or conceded
  • whether the match was played at home or away
  • the importance of a match or competition
  • regional strength
• a fixed number of points were no longer necessarily awarded for a victory or a draw
• match losers were able to earn points

Two new awards were introduced as part of the system:

• Team of the Year
• Best Mover of the Year

The changes made the ranking system more complex, but helped improve its accuracy by making it more comprehensive.

2006 ranking system update

FIFA announced that the ranking system would be updated following the 2006 World Cup. The evaluation period was cut from eight to four years, and a simpler method of calculation is now used to determine rankings.^[4] Goals scored and home or away advantage are no longer taken into account, and other aspects of the calculations, including the importance attributed to different types of match, have been revised. The first set of revised rankings — and the calculation methodology — were announced on 12 July 2006. 2006 World Cup redirects here. ... is the 193rd day of the year (194th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

This change is rooted at least in part in widespread criticism of the previous ranking system. Many football enthusiasts felt it was inaccurate — especially when compared to other ranking systems — and that it was not sufficiently responsive to changes in the performance of individual teams. The recent and unexpectedly high rankings of teams from the Czech Republic and the United States were generally met with scepticism and negatively affected the credibility of the system in the eyes of many followers of the sport. The poor showings and early exit of these two sides from the 2006 World Cup competition appear to lend some credence to the criticism.

Rank leaders

When the system was introduced, Germany debuted as the top ranked team following their extended period of dominance in which they had reached the three previous FIFA World Cup finals, winning one of them. Brazil took the lead in the run up to the 1994 FIFA World Cup after winning eight and losing only one of nine qualification matches, while on the way scoring twenty goals and conceding just four. Italy then led for a short time on the back of their own equally successful World Cup qualifying campaign, after which the top place was re-claimed by Germany. Qualifying countries The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. ...

Brazil's success in their lengthy qualifying campaign returned them to the lead for a brief period. Germany led again during the 1994 World Cup, until Brazil’s victory in that competition gave them a large lead that would stand up for nearly seven years, until they were surpassed by a strong France team that captured both the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2000 European Football Championship. Success at the 2002 FIFA World Cup restored Brazil to the top position, where they remained until February 2007, when Italy returned to the top for the first time since 1993 following their 2006 FIFA World Cup win in Germany. Just one month later, Argentina replaced them, reaching the top for the first time, but Italy regained its place in April. After winning the Copa America 2007 in July, Brazil returned to the top, but were replaced by current leaders Argentina in October. 1998 World Cup redirects here. ... The 2000 UEFA European Championship, or Euro 2000, was the 11th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a competition between the national football teams of Europe held every four years and organised by UEFA, footballs governing body in Europe. ... 2002 World Cup redirects here. ... 2006 World Cup redirects here. ...

Uses of the rankings

The rankings are used by FIFA to rank the progression and current ability of the national football teams of its member nations, and claims that they create "a reliable measure for comparing national A-teams".^[2] They are used as part of the calculation, or the entire grounds to seed competitions. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament, the rankings were used to seed the groups in the competitions involving CONCACAF members (using the May rankings), CAF (with the July set of data), and UEFA, using the specially postponed November 2007 ranking positions. This is a list of the mens national football (soccer) teams in the world. ... A single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout or sudden death tournament, is a type of tournament where the loser of each match is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event. ... In the qualification process for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the six FIFA confederations were allocated a share of the 31 spots available on the basis of the strength of their teams. ... CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) is the continent-wide governing body for football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. ... The 53 member CAF (Confederation of African Football) , (French : Confédération Africaine de Football) , (Arabic : الإتحاد الأفريقى لكرة القدم) represents international football in Africa, and organises the African Cup of Nations, CAF Confederation Cup and the African Champions League. ... The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ...

The rankings are also used to determine the winners of the two annual awards national teams receive on the basis of their performance in the rankings.

Criticism

Since their introduction in 1993, the FIFA World Rankings have been the matter of much debate, particularly regarding the calculation procedure and the resulting disparity between generally perceived quality and world ranking of some teams. For example Norway was ranked second in October 1993 and July-August 1995,^[5] and the United States reached fourth, to the surprise of even their own players. ^[6]

Among the criticisms ^[7] is that prior to July 2006 the rankings considered the performances of teams over an eight year period, and that teams' ranking positions did not correlate to their recent performances.^[5] This criticism should lessen with the introduction of a new formula, reflecting results over a four year period, from July 2006.

Another problem of the rankings is that a team that directly qualifies for a major tournament through being the host(s) will not have the chance to gather points by playing competitive qualifying matches, but can only play friendly matches which are weighted lower.

The perceived flaws in the FIFA system have led to the creation of a number of alternative rankings from football statisticians ^[5] including the World Football Elo Ratings and the rec.sport.soccer Statistics Foundation rankings. The World Football Elo Ratings (Elo pronounced E.L.O. despite the fact it is not an acronym) are based on the Elo rating system and generally thought to be superior to the FIFA World Rankings, the rating system used by FIFA, the international governing body of football, for men... The RSSSF logo The rec. ...

Current calculation method

After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, a revised calculation procedure for the FIFA rankings was introduced; it is a significantly simplified procedure. The new rankings were compiled in response to criticism from the media.^[2] Meetings were attended by FIFA staff and external experts and a large amount of research was conducted by this group, resulting in the new ranking system.^[2] The new system was confirmed in Leipzig on 7 December 2005 by a committee of FIFA executives. Notable changes include the dropping of the home or away advantage and number of goals from the calculation, and the simplification of many aspects of the system. 2006 World Cup redirects here. ... Leipzig ( ; Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk from the Sorbian word for Tilia) is, with a population of over 506,000, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. ... is the 341st day of the year (342nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

The system, like the previous ones, is extremely similar to that of a league, though with changes made to ensure that it is still representative of the teams' performance despite playing differing numbers of matches per annum, and the differing strength of opposition that teams have to face. The factors taken into account are as follows:

• Match result
• Match status
• Opposition strength
• Regional strength

Teams' actual scores are a result of the average points gained over each calendar year; matches from the previous four years are considered, with more weight being given to recent ones. Teams must have played at least 5 matches within the last twelve months to gain ranking points.

Win, draw or defeat

In previous years a complicated system of points allocation was used, depending on how strong the opponent was, and how large the loss margin, which allowed weaker losing teams to gain points when playing a much stronger opposition, if they managed to put up a decent match. With the new system, the points allocation is simpler: three points for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss, in line with most league systems around the world.

In the event of a match being decided by a penalty shootout, the winning team receives two points, and the losing team one point.

Match status

Different matches have different importance to teams, and FIFA has tried to respect this by using a weighting system, where the most significant matches are in the World Cup finals ^[8], and the lowest weighted are friendly matches. FIFA states that it wishes to recognise that friendlies are still important, since they make up half of the competitive matches counted in the rankings.^[9] FIFA also stated, however, that it did not plan to make any adjustment for teams that qualify directly for major tournaments.^[10]

The match status multipliers are as follows:

For the club competition, see FIFA Club World Cup. ... There are 5 football continental championships, they are contested between football teams, one senior team reprasentative of each country, against other countries in their continent, for the title. ... The Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup is a football (soccer) tournament for national teams, held every four years (previously every two years) by FIFA. It is contested by the winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships (CAF, CONMEBOL, UEFA, AFC, OFC, CONCACAF), along with the FIFA World...

Opponent strength

Obviously, a win against a very highly ranked opponent is a considerably greater achievement than a win against a low-rated opponent, so the strength of the opposing team is a factor.

The new system uses an opposition strength factor based on team rankings. The previous system was based on points difference.

The formula used is:

Teams ranked 150th and below are assigned the minimum multiplier of 0.50.

• Example 1: the opposition team is currently ranked 8th in the world:

so the opposition strength multiplier is 1.92

• Example 2: the opposition team is currently ranked 125th in the world:

so the opposition strength multiplier is 0.75

• Example 3: the opposition team is currently ranked 188th in the world:

Below 150th, so the opposition strength multiplier is the minimum 0.50

The rankings published before July 2006 are purely historical and are not used for the new ranking calculation. Instead, FIFA went back as far as 1996 to apply the new formula and is using those new rankings for the current calculations. ^[11]

See the detailed break-down of point totals for teams from the top 20 in the October 2007 rankings. ^[12]

Regional strength

In addition to the opposition strength multiplier, FIFA considers the relative strength of entire confederations in the calculation. Each confederation is assigned a weighting between 0.85 and 1.0, based on the relative performance of the confederations in qualifying for the last three World Cups. Their values are as follows ^[13]:

The multiplier used in the calculation is the average of the regional strength weighting of the two teams: The Union Européenne de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... CONMEBOL or CSF (CONfederación SudaMEricana de FútBOL, South American Football Confederation) is the governing body of football in most of South America. ... The 46 member Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of football in Asia, excluding Cyprus and Israel but including Australia. ... The 53 member CAF (Confederation of African Football) , (French : Confédération Africaine de Football) , (Arabic : الإتحاد الأفريقى لكرة القدم) represents international football in Africa, and organises the African Cup of Nations, CAF Confederation Cup and the African Champions League. ... CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) is the continent-wide governing body for football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. ... Oceania Football Confederation logo since 1998 The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international football. ...

Assessment period

Matches played over the last four years (48 months) are included in the calculation, but there is a weighting to put more emphasis on recent results. Previously an eight year period was used. The date weighting is as follows:

A team must play at least 5 matches per year to be included in the rankings.

Ranking formula

The final ranking points figure is multiplied by 100 and rounded to the nearest whole number.

Examples

The following examples use these hypothetical teams and confederations, and assume the games are played within the last 12 months:

• Amplistan is currently ranked 2nd in the world and is a member of confederation XYZ (weighting 1.0);
• Bestrudia is currently ranked 188th in the world and is a member of confederation ABC (weighting 0.88);
• Conesto is currently ranked 39th in the world and is a member of confederation QRS (weighting 0.98);
• Delphiz is currently ranked 30th in the world and is a member of confederation HIJ (weighting 0.94).

A friendly match is played between Amplistan and Bestrudia. Amplistan wins 2-1.

Bestrudia gets no ranking points because it lost the game, so all factors are multiplied by zero.

Amplistan's 141 ranking points are calculated like this:

• 3 points for the win;
• multiplied by 1.0 for match status (friendly match);
• multiplied by 0.50 for opposition strength (Bestrudia is ranked 188th, so it has the minimum 0.50 weighting);
• multiplied by 0.94 for regional strength (the average of the weightings for the two teams' confederations);
• multiplied by 100.

More examples:

1999-2006 calculation method

Main article: FIFA World Ranking system 1999-2006

In 1999 FIFA introduced a revised system of ranking calculation, incorporating many changes in response to criticism of inappropriate rankings. For the ranking all matches, their scores and importance were all recorded, and were used in the calculation procedure. Only matches for the senior men's national team were included — separate ranking systems were used for other representative national sides such as women's and junior teams, for example the FIFA Women's World Rankings. FIFA did not use the same formula to determine its rankings for women's football. The women's rankings were, and still are, based on a procedure which is a simplified version of the Football Elo Ratings.^[14] The FIFA mens ranking system 1999-2006 is a calculation technique previously used by FIFA for ranking mens national teams in football (soccer). ... The FIFA Womens World Rankings for football (soccer) were introduced in July 2003 as a follow-on to the existing FIFA World Rankings for men. ...

1993-1999 calculation method

The ranking formula used from 1993-1999 was very simplistic and quickly became noticed for its lack of supporting factors. Teams received 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.

Awards

Each year FIFA hands out two awards to its member nations, based on their performance in the rankings. They are;

Team of the Year

Team of the Year is awarded to the team whose best seven matches of the year received the greatest number of points overall. The table below shows the 3 best teams of each year.

Year	First place	Second place	Third place
2006	Brazil	Italy	Argentina
2005	Brazil	Czech Republic	Netherlands
2004	Brazil	France	Argentina
2003	Brazil	France	Spain
2002	Brazil	France	Spain
2001	Honduras	Colombia	Costa Rica
2000	Netherlands	Honduras	Italy
1999	Brazil	Czech Republic	France
1998	Brazil	France	Germany
1997	Brazil	Germany	Czech Republic
1996	Brazil	Germany	France
1995	Brazil	Germany	Italy
1994	Brazil	Spain	Sweden
1993	Germany	Italy	Brazil

Image File history File links Flag_of_Brazil. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Argentina. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Brazil. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Czech_Republic. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Brazil. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Argentina. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Brazil. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Brazil. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Honduras. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Colombia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Costa_Rica. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Honduras. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Brazil. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Czech_Republic. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Brazil. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Brazil. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Czech_Republic. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Brazil. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Brazil. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Brazil. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Sweden. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Brazil. ...

Best Mover of the Year

Best Mover of the Year is awarded to the team who has made the best progress up the rankings over the course of the year. In the FIFA rankings, this is not simply the team that has risen the most places, but a calculation is performed in order to account for the fact that it becomes progressively harder to earn more points the higher up the rankings a team is.^[2] The calculation used is the number of points the team has at the end of the year (z) multiplied by the number of points it earned during the year (y). The team with the highest index on this calculation receives the award. The table below shows the top 3 best movers from each year.

Year	First place	Second place	Third place
2006	Italy	Germany	France
2005	Ghana	Ethiopia	Switzerland
2004	China PR	Uzbekistan	Côte d'Ivoire
2003	Bahrain	Oman	Turkmenistan
2002	Senegal	Wales	Brazil
2001	Costa Rica	Australia	Honduras
2000	Nigeria	Honduras	Cameroon
1999	Slovenia	Cuba	Uzbekistan
1998	Croatia	France	Argentina
1997	Yugoslavia	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Iran
1996	South Africa	Paraguay	Canada
1995	Jamaica	Trinidad and Tobago	Czech Republic
1994	Croatia	Brazil	Uzbekistan
1993	Colombia	Portugal	Morocco

Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Ghana. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Ethiopia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Switzerland. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Peoples_Republic_of_China. ... First international  Philippines 2 - 1 China (Philippines; February 1, 1913)  Finland 4 - 0 China (Helsinki, Finland; August 4, 1952) Biggest win China 19 - 0 Guam  (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; January 26, 2000) Biggest defeat  USA 5 - 0 China (Palo Alto, USA; April 4, 1992) World Cup Appearances 1 (First... Image File history File links Flag_of_Uzbekistan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Cote_d'Ivoire. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Bahrain. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Oman. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Turkmenistan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Senegal. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Wales_2. ... First international  Scotland 4 - 0 Wales (Glasgow, Scotland; 26 March 1876) Biggest win Wales 11 - 0 Ireland  (Wrexham, Wales; 3 March 1888) Biggest defeat  Scotland 9 - 0 Wales (Glasgow, Scotland; 23 March 1878) World Cup Appearances 1 (First in 1958) Best result Quarter-finals, 1958 The Wales national football team... Image File history File links Flag_of_Brazil. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Costa_Rica. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Honduras. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Nigeria. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Honduras. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Cameroon. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Slovenia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Cuba. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Uzbekistan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Croatia. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Argentina. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_FR_Yugoslavia. ... First international Brazil 2 - 0 Yugoslavia (Porto Alegre, Brazil; 23 December 1994) First international as Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro 2 - 2 Azerbaijan (Podgorica, SCG; 12 February 2003) First international as Serbia Czech Republic 1 - 3 Serbia (Uherské HradiÅ¡tÄ›, Czech Republic; 16 August 2006) Biggest win Faroe Islands... Image File history File links Flag_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Iran. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_South_Africa. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Paraguay. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Jamaica. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Trinidad_and_Tobago. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Czech_Republic. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Croatia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Brazil. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Uzbekistan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Colombia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Portugal. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Morocco. ...

Ranking schedule

Rankings are published monthly, usually on a Wednesday. The deadline for the matches to be considered is the Thursday prior to the release date.

See also

• FIFA Women's World Rankings
• World Football Elo Ratings
• AQB Sports Ratings
• Aggregated Football World Ranking-List
• Seeding for 2006 FIFA World Cup

The FIFA Womens World Rankings for football (soccer) were introduced in July 2003 as a follow-on to the existing FIFA World Rankings for men. ... The World Football Elo Ratings (Elo is pronounced E-L-O despite not being an acronym) is a ranking system for mens national teams in football. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... The Aggregated Football World Ranking-List is an alternative Ranking-System for mens national teams in football (soccer). ... To calculate the seeding for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, FIFA used the FIFA World Rankings in combination with performances of national teams in the 2 previous world cups [1]. Points were allocated on the basis of 32 for the best acheiving of the 32 qualifiers for 2006 World Cup...

References

In circuit motorsport, a driver has pole position when he starts a race at the front of the grid. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• FIFA.com rankings and statistics, current ranking (to see the lower ranked national football teams, choose the pages 2 till 5)
• Calculation procedure in more detail (no longer on the fifa.com-pages)
• FIFA rankings : A Guide to the very first '93 revision (RSSSF)
• How the FIFA men's rankings are calculated
• FIFA rankings per head of population

International football v • d • e
FIFA | World Cup | Confederations Cup | U-20 World Cup | U-17 World Cup | Olympics | Asian Games | All-Africa Games | Pan American Games | Island Games | World Rankings | Player of the Year | Teams | Codes The RSSSF logo The rec. ... A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. ... This article is about an international football organization. ... For the club competition, see FIFA Club World Cup. ... The FIFA Confederations Cup is a football tournament for national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It is contested by the winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships (CAF, CONMEBOL, UEFA, AFC, OFC, CONCACAF), along with the FIFA World Cup champion and the host country, to bring... The FIFA U-20 World Cup, is the world championship of football for male players under the age of 20 and is organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). ... The FIFA U-17 World Cup, formerly the FIFA U-17 World Championship and before the FIFA U-16 World Championship, is the world championship of football for male players under the age of 17 and is organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). ... Football (soccer) has been included in every Summer Olympic Games except 1896 and 1932 as a mens competition sport. ... Football (soccer) was an Asian Games sport since the 1951 edition. ... The football (soccer) tournament was held at the every edition of All-Africa Games since 1965. ... A mens football (soccer) tournament is held at every Pan American Games since the first edition of the multi-sports event in 1951, a womens tournament was only added in 1999. ... Football has been held since 1989 at the Island Games as a mens competition sport. ... The FIFA World Player of the Year is a football award given annually to the male and female player who are thought to be the best in the world, based on votes by coaches and captains of international teams. ... This is a list of the mens national football (soccer) teams in the world. ... FIFA assigns a three-letter code (dubbed FIFA Trigramme) to each of its member and non-member countries. ...
Asia: AFC – Asian Cup      Africa: CAF – African Cup of Nations      North America: CONCACAF – Gold Cup      South America: CONMEBOL – Copa América      Oceania: OFC – Nations Cup      Europe: UEFA – European Championship      Non-FIFA: NF-Board – VIVA World Cup