FIFA Ranking: November 2008 preview (III)

Point totals for teams from the top 20 of the October 2007 ranking should be 100% correct. For the others, there's the issue of historical rankings published before July 2006.

I don't know whether I will have the time next week to post the ranking, so this may also be the final preview for November.

The deadline should be on Thursday, but FIFA may include more matches. There are 3 matches left until the deadline, but FIFA may include as much as 8. The November 2008 FIFA Ranking will be published on November 12th.

Australia become the top AFC team.
Ghana fall from the CAF podium, being replaced by Nigeria.
Mexico fail to knock the USA from the CONCACAF top spot.
Paraguay replace Uruguay as CONMEBOL's third team.
Germany up to second place in the world and in UEFA.
First ever points for Timor-Leste after a 2 - 2 draw with Cambodia.

Highest climbers:

33 - Jamaica (116 -> 83)
28 - Laos (190 -> 162)
25 - Cuba (98 -> 73)
21 - Iceland (103 -> 82)
18 - Switzerland (45 -> 27)

Worst movers:

27 - Cyprus (80 -> 107), Kyrgyzstan (127 -> 154)
26 - Hong Kong (130 -> 156)
21 - Suriname (108 -> 129)
19 - Guatemala (89 -> 108)

Three countries will improve their best ever ranking:

Israel (15th - 16th in October 2008)
Montenegro (116th - 117th in October 2008)
Philippines (157th - 162nd in August 1993)

Timor-Leste return to their best ever ranking - 198th first achieved in November 2006.

Two countries will return to their worst ever ranking:

Macau (197th - August 2008)
Cook Islands (201st - February 2008)

Ten countries will have their worst ever ranking:

Norway (54th - 52nd in July 2006)
Congo DR (95th - 85th in April 2008)
United Arab Emirates (113th - 111 in October 2003)
Kuwait ( 128th - 124th in October 2008)
Malta (149th - 146th in October 2008)
Hong Kong (156th - 154th in February 2003)
Andorra (194th - 188th in May 1997)
Central African Republic (200th - 199th in August 2008)
Papua New Guinea (201st - 200th in August 2008)
San Marino (201st - 200th in May 2008)

Best movers in the Top 50:

18 - Switzerland
15 - Slovakia
11 - Serbia and Ecuador
5 - Paraguay and Nigeria

Worst movers in the Top 50:

-15 - Norway
-7 - Scotland and Northern Ireland
-6 - Japan and Colombia
-5 - Finland

November 2008 rank - Team - November 2008 points - +/- Ranking - +/- Points

1	Spain	1657	0	14
2	Germany	1413	1	77
3	Italy	1356	-1	-9
4	Netherlands	1306	1	48
5	Brazil	1286	-1	6
6	Argentina	1181	1	-19
7	Croatia	1158	-1	-65
8	Russia	1079	1	3
9	Czech Republic	1062	-1	-49
10	England	1058	4	76
10	Portugal	1058	0	-17
12	France	1035	-1	0
13	Turkey	1031	0	10
14	Cameroon	1011	-2	-16
15	Israel	1004	1	43
16	Bulgaria	949	-1	-20
17	Paraguay	935	5	75
18	Greece	907	-1	-38
19	Romania	892	-1	-35
20	Ukraine	887	-1	-6
21	Egypt	876	1	16
22	Nigeria	852	5	34
23	Uruguay	838	-3	-49
24	USA	834	-3	-27
25	Mexico	827	-1	-14
26	Ghana	805	-1	-34
27	Switzerland	799	18	158
28	Côte d'Ivoire	782	1	3
29	Serbia	777	11	104
30	Sweden	775	-2	-19
31	Ecuador	770	11	109
32	Poland	765	-2	2
33	Scotland	761	-7	-59
34	Denmark	760	-3	0
35	Chile	752	1	38
36	Republic of Ireland	749	2	48
37	Australia	748	-3	11
38	Japan	719	-6	-28
39	Colombia	692	-6	-47
40	Guinea	691	1	21
41	Lithuania	678	-4	-28
42	Northern Ireland	670	-7	-51
43	Morocco	648	0	6
44	Iran	638	4	19
45	Slovakia	628	15	107
46	Honduras	622	4	21
47	Tunisia	613	0	-11
48	Finland	611	-5	-31
49	FYR Macedonia	603	-3	-34
50	Mali	601	3	14
50	Senegal	601	-1	-14
52	Saudi Arabia	593	-1	4
53	Korea Republic	588	2	36
54	Norway	574	-15	-106
55	Belgium	571	-4	-18
56	Hungary	551	6	44
57	Slovenia	542	16	85
58	Costa Rica	541	11	65
59	Gabon	534	8	53
60	New Zealand	533	-6	-51
61	Burkina Faso	521	2	19
62	Wales	518	-1	0
63	Algeria	514	-7	-28
64	Belarus	507	-5	-15
65	Latvia	500	-1	-1
66	Venezuela	497	0	13
67	Bosnia-Herzegovina	493	8	47
68	Angola	474	0	-5
68	Congo	474	-11	-62
70	Bolivia	469	4	13
71	Zambia	466	-1	-2
72	Peru	465	-14	-68
73	Cuba	460	25	94
74	Iraq	452	3	9
75	Bahrain	450	-3	-15
76	Moldova	449	-11	-51
77	South Africa	443	8	32
78	Qatar	439	0	3
79	Uzbekistan	438	-9	-30
80	Canada	434	4	19
81	Trinidad and Tobago	429	7	25
82	Iceland	422	21	77
83	Jamaica	421	33	126
83	Uganda	421	12	45
85	Libya	419	-9	-25
86	Kenya	412	-7	-21
87	Albania	409	-4	-7
88	Rwanda	406	-1	-4
89	Panama	404	2	19
90	Gambia	400	0	11
91	Austria	395	-9	-27
91	Togo	395	0	10
93	Mozambique	391	7	36
94	Benin	388	-13	-41
95	Congo DR	387	-10	-24
96	Oman	384	-2	4
97	Zimbabwe	374	-6	-11
98	China PR	371	-2	-3
99	Georgia	364	-2	-4
100	Barbados	361	14	61
101	Sudan	360	5	34
102	Ethiopia	348	0	0
102	Syria	348	-3	-13
104	Malawi	346	5	36
105	Haiti	341	-1	1
105	Tanzania	341	5	34
107	Cyprus	337	-27	-93
108	Guatemala	315	-19	-79
109	El Salvador	305	11	20
110	Cape Verde Islands	303	-6	-37
111	Armenia	302	-10	-51
112	Korea DPR	300	-5	-15
113	United Arab Emirates	297	-3	-10
114	Guyana	290	4	0
114	Namibia	290	12	31
116	Montenegro	285	1	-9
116	Thailand	285	-4	-18
118	Jordan	284	-6	-19
119	Botswana	277	-4	-19
120	Equatorial Guinea	275	1	-9
120	New Caledonia	275	2	0
122	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	268	3	7
123	Chad	260	-4	-28
124	Kazakhstan	252	7	5
124	Sierra Leone	252	9	20
126	Bermuda	251	3	0
127	Luxembourg	245	-4	-28
128	Kuwait	242	-4	-30
129	Suriname	239	-21	-72
130	Burundi	237	-2	-15
131	Estonia	235	6	17
132	Indonesia	220	7	9
133	Madagascar	209	3	-11
134	Azerbaijan	208	9	17
135	Singapore	205	-3	-28
136	Antigua and Barbuda	202	-3	-30
137	Eritrea	200	3	0
138	Fiji	199	0	-18
138	Grenada	199	3	7
140	Swaziland	181	1	-11
141	Puerto Rico	180	3	0
142	Liberia	179	11	20
143	Vanuatu	175	4	0
144	India	172	4	-1
145	Yemen	169	3	-4
146	Tajikistan	166	9	11
147	Niger	157	3	-15
148	Turkmenistan	154	10	39
149	Malaysia	153	11	44
149	Malta	153	-3	-23
151	Lebanon	151	0	-18
152	Liechtenstein	145	-17	-82
153	Maldives	129	1	-27
154	Kyrgyzstan	128	-27	-125
154	Netherlands Antilles	128	-3	-41
156	Hong Kong	119	-26	-131
157	Philippines	118	8	29
158	Myanmar	116	-1	0
159	Vietnam	115	6	26
160	Mauritania	112	-15	-66
161	Lesotho	109	-2	-4
162	Laos	108	28	80
163	St. Kitts and Nevis	105	-7	-18
164	Cayman Islands	101	-2	0
165	Solomon Islands	100	-2	0
166	Seychelles	93	-2	-3
167	Pakistan	90	1	3
168	Sri Lanka	89	-3	0
169	Turks and Caicos Islands	83	0	0
170	Chinese Taipei	82	3	11
171	Bahamas	81	-1	0
172	St. Lucia	77	-11	-31
173	Mauritius	74	-2	0
174	Cambodia	72	8	29
174	Guinea-Bissau	72	-2	0
176	Belize	71	-3	0
177	British Virgin Islands	67	-1	0
177	Nepal	67	-2	-1
179	Dominican Republic	66	-2	0
180	Samoa	64	-2	0
181	Bangladesh	53	-2	-2
182	Brunei Darussalam	52	2	16
183	Palestine	49	-3	-1
184	Afghanistan	46	-2	3
185	Nicaragua	45	-4	0
186	Faroe Islands	37	12	30
187	Bhutan	32	0	0
187	Djibouti	32	-1	-3
187	Tahiti	32	0	0
187	Tonga	32	0	0
191	Dominica	25	0	0
192	Mongolia	24	0	0
193	Aruba	22	0	0
194	Andorra	19	-10	-17
195	US Virgin Islands	17	-1	0
196	Comoros	13	-1	0
197	Macau	10	-1	-1
198	Somalia	8	-1	0
198	Timor-Leste	8	2	8
200	Central African Republic	6	-1	0
201	American Samoa	0	-1	0
201	Anguilla	0	-1	0
201	Cook Islands	0	-1	0
201	Guam	0	-1	0
201	Montserrat	0	-1	0
201	Papua New Guinea	0	-1	0
201	San Marino	0	-1	0

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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.