FIFA Ranking: April 2010 preview (I)

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.

Included: matches up to and including March 30th, 2010.

Next update: April 7 or 9.

Only three matches (all friendlies) will be included in this ranking:

31/Mar Chile - Venezuela
31/Mar Paraguay - South Africa
7/Apr Japan - Serbia

Here's how the totals can change for these six teams:

Chile (W: 973, D: 948, L: 936)
Serbia (W: 944, D: 912, L: 896)
Paraguay (W: 843, D: 822, L: 812)
Japan (W: 701, D: 683, L: 674)
Venezuela (W: 622, D: 596, L: 583)
South Africa (W: 393, D: 374, L: 364)

In the ranking table, the value displayed for these teams is the minimum possible value. This means that even if they lose, their total can't drop.

Brazil back on top. Portugal up to third.

Best movers:

10 - Lithuania
7 - Peru
6 - Slovenia and Armenia

Worst movers:

-16 - Bolivia
-15 - Macau
-13 - Pakistan

Best movers in the top 50:

10 - Latvia
6 - Slovenia
5 - Colombia and Finland

Worst movers in the top 50:

-8 - Paraguay
-7 - Northern Ireland
-5 - Switzerland and Slovakia

Iran keep on climbing - now 4th in AFC.

Portugal up to 2nd in Europe.

April 2010 rank - Team - April 2010 points - +/- Ranking - +/- Points

1	Brazil	1611	1	22
2	Spain	1565	-1	-37
3	Portugal	1249	1	35
4	Netherlands	1221	-1	-40
5	Italy	1184	0	1
6	Germany	1107	0	-50
7	Argentina	1084	2	9
8	England	1068	-1	-52
9	Croatia	1052	1	1
10	France	1044	-2	-33
11	Russia	1003	1	-6
12	Greece	968	-1	-64
13	Egypt	967	1	0
14	USA	950	2	2
15	Chile	936	-2	-38
15	Mexico	936	2	15
17	Uruguay	902	1	0
18	Serbia	896	-3	-54
19	Cameroon	887	1	0
20	Australia	883	-1	-15
20	Nigeria	883	2	0
22	Norway	879	2	26
23	Slovenia	860	6	50
24	Israel	857	4	46
25	Ukraine	855	1	18
26	Switzerland	854	-6	-33
27	Côte d'Ivoire	846	-2	0
28	Romania	843	4	45
29	Czech Republic	827	1	18
30	Algeria	821	-3	0
31	Paraguay	812	-8	-43
32	Ghana	802	-1	0
33	Turkey	798	2	28
34	Colombia	777	5	36
35	Denmark	767	-1	-11
36	Ecuador	763	0	-2
37	Sweden	757	3	18
38	Honduras	750	-2	-15
39	Slovakia	742	-6	-49
40	Bulgaria	740	-2	-24
41	Gabon	707	2	0
42	Costa Rica	706	0	-11
43	Republic of Ireland	690	1	-14
44	Scotland	684	-3	-48
45	Japan	674	0	-18
46	Latvia	652	0	-14
47	Korea Republic	619	2	-10
48	Lithuania	616	10	46
49	Finland	605	5	17
50	Bosnia-Herzegovina	604	-3	-38
51	Burkina Faso	589	1	0
52	Venezuela	583	-4	-50
53	Peru	579	7	42
54	Mali	575	3	2
55	Tunisia	574	1	0
56	Hungary	567	-4	-22
57	Northern Ireland	555	-7	-73
58	Poland	552	1	-10
59	Benin	531	2	0
60	FYR Macedonia	521	5	12
60	Iran	521	3	3
62	Belgium	518	4	12
63	Canada	516	1	0
64	Austria	509	-9	-73
65	Montenegro	500	4	16
66	Saudi Arabia	495	-4	-25
67	Bolivia	491	-16	-106
68	Cyprus	488	2	18
69	Bahrain	482	-2	-19
70	Morocco	469	-2	-19
71	Zambia	452	0	0
72	El Salvador	451	2	14
73	Togo	438	0	0
74	Uganda	437	0	0
75	Wales	429	2	13
76	Panama	421	0	-9
77	Senegal	414	-5	-30
78	New Zealand	413	1	4
79	Jamaica	412	-1	0
80	Albania	406	3	17
81	Belarus	397	-1	-7
82	Iraq	394	-1	0
82	Malawi	394	-1	0
84	Moldova	392	3	19
85	Angola	390	1	10
85	China PR	390	-1	8
87	Guinea	381	-2	0
87	Haiti	381	4	19
89	Mozambique	378	0	7
90	Iceland	367	0	3
90	Trinidad and Tobago	367	3	17
92	South Africa	364	-4	-8
93	Gambia	361	-1	0
94	Uzbekistan	354	1	9
95	Qatar	351	2	9
96	Kuwait	348	-2	0
97	Oman	346	-1	2
98	Syria	342	-1	0
99	Congo	320	0	-9
100	Armenia	311	6	19
101	United Arab Emirates	310	1	13
102	Libya	305	-1	0
103	Jordan	297	-1	0
104	Estonia	296	-4	-21
105	Korea DPR	295	0	2
106	Thailand	294	-2	0
107	Rwanda	269	0	0
108	Tanzania	259	1	0
109	Yemen	258	-1	-4
110	Azerbaijan	257	0	0
111	Congo DR	253	0	0
112	Namibia	251	0	1
113	Zimbabwe	248	0	0
114	Kenya	243	0	0
115	Guatemala	241	0	0
116	Botswana	238	0	2
117	Cape Verde Islands	236	-1	0
118	Vietnam	231	1	0
119	Antigua and Barbuda	217	1	0
119	Georgia	217	-1	-15
121	Sudan	211	0	0
122	Guyana	205	0	0
123	Ethiopia	204	0	0
124	Grenada	198	4	10
125	Cuba	196	0	0
125	Faroe Islands	196	0	0
127	Luxembourg	193	-3	-5
127	Singapore	193	0	0
129	Kazakhstan	180	0	3
130	Fiji	167	1	0
131	Swaziland	165	1	1
132	India	164	0	0
133	Sierra Leone	162	2	0
134	Bermuda	160	2	0
135	Barbados	157	2	0
135	Tajikistan	157	-5	-19
137	Turkmenistan	154	-3	-9
138	Indonesia	153	0	-2
139	Hong Kong	150	1	0
140	Suriname	147	1	0
141	Equatorial Guinea	142	2	-3
142	Myanmar	141	-1	-6
143	Maldives	129	-4	-22
144	Chad	128	0	0
145	Burundi	127	0	0
146	New Caledonia	126	0	0
147	Malaysia	123	0	0
148	Liechtenstein	117	3	5
149	Madagascar	115	5	5
150	Lesotho	114	-2	-2
151	Liberia	113	5	7
151	St. Kitts and Nevis	113	-2	0
153	Vanuatu	108	2	0
154	Malta	103	4	1
155	Nicaragua	101	5	0
156	Sri Lanka	99	1	-4
157	Lebanon	98	-8	-15
157	Netherlands Antilles	98	5	0
159	Eritrea	95	4	0
160	Bangladesh	94	-2	-8
161	Kyrgyzstan	92	-10	-20
161	Nepal	92	-1	-9
161	Niger	92	4	0
164	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	91	2	0
165	Mauritania	81	3	0
166	Chinese Taipei	78	-3	-17
166	Pakistan	78	-13	-33
168	Puerto Rico	76	1	0
169	Solomon Islands	60	1	0
170	Philippines	55	-3	-31
171	Cambodia	54	0	-2
172	Comoros	43	2	0
173	Mauritius	40	3	0
174	Cayman Islands	39	3	0
174	Laos	39	3	0
174	Palestine	39	-1	-6
174	Seychelles	39	1	-2
174	Somalia	39	3	0
179	Samoa	38	1	0
180	Mongolia	36	-8	-12
181	Bahamas	34	1	0
181	Belize	34	1	0
181	Cook Islands	34	1	0
184	Dominica	33	1	0
185	Turks and Caicos Islands	32	1	0
186	Tonga	28	1	0
187	Dominican Republic	26	1	0
188	Djibouti	23	2	0
189	Guinea-Bissau	19	3	0
189	St. Lucia	19	3	0
189	Tahiti	19	3	0
192	British Virgin Islands	18	3	0
193	Afghanistan	17	-2	-3
193	Brunei Darussalam	17	-4	-8
193	Guam	17	3	0
196	Macau	16	-15	-20
197	Aruba	11	1	0
197	Bhutan	11	-1	-6
199	US Virgin Islands	5	0	0
200	Timor-Leste	4	0	0
201	Andorra	2	0	0
202	American Samoa	0	0	0
202	Anguilla	0	0	0
202	Central African Republic	0	0	0
202	Montserrat	0	0	0
202	Papua New Guinea	0	0	0
202	San Marino	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.

March 2010: FIFA Ranking vs. Elo Ratings

Top 10 differences for countries with a better Elo Rating:

Team - FIFA Ranking - Elo Rating - Difference

Central African Republic	202	132	70
Solomon Islands	170	119	51
Guinea-Bissau	192	142	50
Tahiti	192	148	44
Oman	96	59	37
Niger	165	129	36
Papua New Guinea	202	166	36
Syria	97	63	34
China PR	84	51	33
New Caledonia	146	115	31

Top 10 differences for countries with a better FIFA Ranking:

Team - FIFA Ranking - Elo Rating - Difference

Algeria	27	75	-48
Luxembourg	124	169	-45
Gabon	43	87	-44
Benin	61	104	-43
Burkina Faso	52	88	-36
Faroe Islands	125	155	-30
Pakistan	153	182	-29
Malawi	81	109	-28
Latvia	46	73	-27
Northern Ireland	50	76	-26

Top 50 nations only (in the top 50 in at least one of the rankings)

Top 10 differences for countries with a better Elo Rating:

Team - FIFA Ranking - Elo Rating - Difference

Korea Republic	49	24	25
Sweden	40	21	19
Saudi Arabia	62	43	19
Iran	63	44	19
Turkey	35	17	18
Republic of Ireland	44	28	16
Denmark	34	20	14
Japan	45	31	14
Poland	59	46	13
Colombia	39	27	12

Top 10 differences for countries with a better FIFA Ranking:

Team - FIFA Ranking - Elo Rating - Difference

Algeria	27	75	-48
Gabon	43	87	-44
Latvia	46	73	-27
Northern Ireland	50	76	-26
Slovenia	29	47	-18
Greece	11	28	-17
Cameroon	20	37	-17
Nigeria	22	39	-17
Slovakia	33	49	-16
Ghana	31	41	-10

Matches I would have liked to see before April 28th:

Korea Republic - Algeria
Sweden - Latvia
Saudi Arabia - Gabon
Iran - Northern Ireland
Turkey - Slovakia
Republic of Ireland - Slovenia
Denmark - Greece
Japan - Bolivia
Poland - Burkina Faso
Colombia - Hungary

---

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.

2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying - Probable Asian format

I made a mistake in this Asian World Cup seeding post, as jonny pointed out in this comment. I assumed the qualifiers will start in October 2011 with the draw taking place in August 2011 - using the same time table as last time.

Actually, the first round will take place this year in October. Probably the draw will take place in August.

I managed to find the 2014 World Cup Asian qualifying format (sort of), by checking the AFC calendar of competitions for 2010 - 2014.

AFC seem pretty sure of keeping their 4.5 spots - or at least that's how I see it - with round 5 and 6 used for play-off purposes.

10 match days in round 4 - possible groups of 6 teams, but I think it will be groups of 5 teams, as amir pointed out.

Round 1 and 2 are a bit tricky - round 1 in particular. Will teams qualified for Qatar 2011 be involved in the first round?

Most likely format:

Round 1

MD1 - 8 October 2010
MD2 - 12 October 2010

Round 2

MD1 - 25 March 2011
MD2 - 29 March 2011

Round 3

Most likely there will be a draw in April or May 2011.
5 groups of 4 teams - winners and runner-ups go to the next round.

MD1 - 7 June 2011
MD2 - 6 September 2011
MD3 - 11 October 2011
MD4 - 11 November 2011
MD5 - 15 November 2011
MD6 - 29 February 2012

Round 4

A draw for this round will take place sometime before May 2012.
2 groups of 5 teams. Winners and runner-ups qualify for Brazil 2014.

MD1 - 9 June 2012
MD2 - 13 June 2012
MD3 - 11 September 2012
MD4 - 16 October 2012
MD5 - 14 November 2012
MD6 - 22 March 2013
MD7 - 26 March 2013
MD8 - 4 June 2013
MD9 - 11 June 2013
MD10 - 18 June 2013

Round 5

AFC play-off (third placed teams)

MD1 - 6 September 2013
MD2 - 10 September 2013

Round 6

Intercontinental play-off

MD1 - 15 October 2013
MD2 - 15 November 2013

For those interested, these are the 2015 Asian Cup qualifying dates:

Asian Cup

Round 1

MD1 - 1 September 2012
MD2 - 5 September 2012

Round 2

MD1 - 2 February 2013
MD2 - 6 February 2013
MD3 - 15 October 2013
MD4 - 15 November 2013
MD5 - 19 November 2013
MD6 - 5 March 2014

I think AMD stands for Alternative Match Day - 11, 18 and 25 January 2014.

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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.

2014 FIFA World Cup seeding for UEFA teams (26 March 2010)

The preliminary draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup took place on November 25th, 2007 and used the November 2007 FIFA ranking.

Assumptions:

- UEFA will again have 13 spots
- UEFA will again use the system with 9 groups
- FIFA will use the FIFA ranking to seed the teams
- FIFA will hold the draw in November 2011

The November 2011 FIFA ranking will include matches played between November 2007 and November 2011. We already have the "0.2" and "0.3" parts (matches played between November 2007 and November 2009) - that's basically 25% of the final ranking and a bit of the "0.5" part (matches played between November 2009 and November 2010). A lot can and will change before November 2011 as there are many matches to be played involving European teams: 2010 FIFA World Cup, EURO 2012 qualifiers and plenty of friendlies.

UEFA will only use the national team coefficient for the European Championships draws (qualifying and final tournament).

This is the November 2011 ranking (for UEFA only) using matches played up to and including March 26th, 2009 and matches scheduled up to November 2010 (only those on fifa.com). I've also added the EURO 2012 fixtures from UEFA.com.

The "0.5" part is computed this way: points gained / (number of matches played + scheduled).

England and Denmark replace France and Slovenia in the first pot.
Turkey and Sweden replace Israel and the Republic of Ireland in the second pot.
Poland and Austria replace Montenegro and Romania in the third pot.
Belarus and Albania replace Belgium and Macedonia in the fourth pot.
Moldova replace Faroe Islands in the fifth pot.

Rank - Previous rank - Team - Total points

 1  1 Spain                    492
 2  4 Netherlands              374
 3  2 Portugal                 300
 4  9 Russia                   296
 5  6 Italy                    292
 6 13 England                  283
 7  8 Germany                  280
 8  3 Greece                   278
 9 10 Denmark                  273
----------------------------------
10 12 Croatia                  267
11  7 France                   264
12  5 Slovenia                 263
13 11 Serbia                   245
14 14 Switzerland              242
15 16 Ukraine                  231
16 21 Turkey                   225
17 23 Sweden                   221
18 17 Bulgaria                 220
----------------------------------
19 18 Israel                   217
20 15 Republic of Ireland      215
21 25 Norway                   208
22 28 Poland                   203
23 27 Bosnia-Herzegovina       200
24 19 Slovakia                 196
25 20 Czech Republic           194
26 29 Austria                  185
27 22 Latvia                   182
----------------------------------
28 34 Scotland                 177
29 24 Montenegro               174
30 26 Romania                  168
31 30 Hungary                  167
32 30 Northern Ireland         148
33 33 Finland                  145
34 32 Lithuania                140
35 37 Belarus                  135
36 42 Albania                  131
----------------------------------
37 36 Belgium                  123
38 43 Iceland                  120
39 34 FYR Macedonia            119
40 40 Cyprus                   108
41 38 Wales                    105
42 39 Azerbaijan               100
43 41 Estonia                   99
44 47 Moldova                   77
45 44 Armenia                   72
----------------------------------
46 45 Faroe Islands             68
47 49 Georgia                   61
48 46 Luxembourg                58
49 48 Kazakhstan                51
50 50 Malta                     27
51 51 Liechtenstein             15
52 52 Andorra                    0
52 52 San Marino                 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.

2014 FIFA World Cup seeding for AFC (22 March 2010)

29 March 2010: The qualifiers will start in October 2010, so the preliminary draw (for the first two rounds) will probably take place in August 2010. The first group stage (round 3) starts in June 2011 - with a possible draw taking place in April or May 2011. More info on the format.
_________________________

On July 19th, 2009 the AFC Competitions Committee decided to use the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification format for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

More details on the seeding in this post:

2014 FIFA World Cup seeding for AFC

However, they changed their mind on December 7th, 2009.

AFC approves MD1 for 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers

Will the AFC use the FIFA ranking to seed the teams? It's possible.

Assumptions:

- AFC will again have 4.5 spots
- AFC will keep the current qualifying system
- AFC will use the FIFA ranking to seed the teams
- AFC will choose the July 2011 ranking for seeding

The July 2011 FIFA ranking will include matches played between July 2007 and July 2011. We already have the "0.2" part (matches played between July 2007 and July 2008) and the "0.3" part (matches played between July 2008 and July 2009) - that's 25% of the formula. A lot can and will change before July 2011 as there are many matches to be played involving Asian teams: 2010 FIFA World Cup, 2011 Asian Cup and plenty of friendlies.

This is the July 2011 ranking (for AFC only) using matches played up to and including March 21st, 2010 and matches scheduled up to July 2010 (only those on fifa.com).

The "0.5" part is computed this way: points gained / (number of matches played + scheduled).

Rank - Team - Total points

 1 Australia            353
 2 Japan                286
 3 Korea Republic       264
 4 Iran                 254
 5 Saudi Arabia         247
 6 Bahrain              242
---------------------------
 7 Oman                 181
 8 Kuwait               176
 9 China PR             175
10 Syria                173
11 Uzbekistan           170
12 United Arab Emirates 162
13 Qatar                156
14 Korea DPR            155
15 Jordan               145
16 Thailand             142
17 Iraq                 137
18 Yemen                128
19 Singapore            104
20 India                 89
21 Tajikistan            86
22 Turkmenistan          85
23 Vietnam               76
24 Hong Kong             74
25 Indonesia             67
26 Maldives              66
---------------------------
27 Malaysia              64
28 Myanmar               60
29 Bangladesh            56
30 Lebanon               55
31 Nepal                 51
31 Sri Lanka             51
33 Kyrgyzstan            44
34 Pakistan              43
35 Philippines           34
36 Chinese Taipei        33
37 Laos                  16
38 Mongolia              15
38 Cambodia              15
40 Palestine             13
41 Afghanistan           11
42 Guam                  10
43 Brunei Darussalam      9
44 Macau                  6
44 Bhutan                 6
46 Timor-Leste            3

---

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.

2014 FIFA World Cup seeding for CAF (22 March 2010)

The preliminary draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup took place on November 25th, 2007 and used the July 2007 FIFA ranking.

Assumptions:

- CAF will again have 5 spots
- CAF will keep the current qualifying system
- FIFA will use the FIFA ranking to seed the teams
- CAF will choose the July 2011 ranking for seeding

The July 2011 FIFA ranking will include matches played between July 2007 and July 2011. We already have the "0.2" part (matches played between July 2007 and July 2008) and the "0.3" part (matches played between July 2008 and July 2009) - that's 25% of the formula. A lot can and will change before July 2011 as there are many matches to be played involving African teams: 2010 FIFA World Cup, CAN 2012 qualifiers and plenty of friendlies.

This is the July 2011 ranking (for CAF only) using matches played up to and including March 21st, 2010 and matches scheduled up to July 2010 (only those on fifa.com).

The "0.5" part is computed this way: points gained / (number of matches played + scheduled).

Malawi replace Mozambique in the first pot.
Gambia replace Zimbabwe in the second pot.

Rank - Previous rank - Team - Total points

 1  2 Egypt                    542
 2  5 Gabon                    409
 3  7 Nigeria                  389
 4  1 Cameroon                 361
 5  3 Côte dIvoire             359
 5  4 Algeria                  359
 7  6 Burkina Faso             338
 8  9 Ghana                    336
 9  8 Mali                     266
10 11 Tunisia                  264
11 10 Benin                    257
12 14 Malawi                   235
----------------------------------
13 13 Togo                     234
14 24 Uganda                   232
15 19 Zambia                   228
16 12 Mozambique               176
17 23 Angola                   171
18 15 Morocco                  170
19 21 Libya                    166
20 22 Senegal                  159
21 28 Gambia                   147
22 16 Guinea                   144
23 19 South Africa             141
24 18 Congo                    135
----------------------------------
25 16 Zimbabwe                 131
26 26 Rwanda                   126
27 25 Kenya                    120
28 27 Tanzania                 110
29 29 Sudan                    100
30 32 Namibia                   97
30 33 Botswana                  97
32 30 Cape Verde Islands        96
33 31 Congo DR                  88
34 34 Swaziland                 76
35 35 Sierra Leone              74
36 36 Madagascar                73
----------------------------------
37 37 Chad                      67
38 38 Burundi                   52
39 39 Equatorial Guinea         51
40 40 Lesotho                   47
40 40 Niger                     47
42 43 Ethiopia                  42
43 42 Liberia                   39
44 47 Eritrea                   29
45 44 Somalia                   23
45 44 Mauritania                23
47 46 Comoros                   19
48 48 Mauritius                 15
----------------------------------
49 49 Guinea-Bissau             12
49 49 Djibouti                  12
51 51 Seychelles                11
52 52 Central African Republic   0
52 52 Sao Tome e Principe        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.

2014 FIFA World Cup seeding for CONCACAF teams (22 March 2010)

The preliminary draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup took place on November 25th, 2007 and used the May 2007 FIFA ranking (for CONCACAF).

Assumptions:

- CONCACAF will again have 3.5 spots
- CONCACAF will again use the same qualifying system
- FIFA will use the FIFA ranking to seed the teams

The May 2011 FIFA ranking will include matches played between May 2007 and May 2011. We already have the "0.2" and "0.3" parts (matches played between May 2007 and May 2009) - that's basically 25% of the final ranking and almost all of the "0.5" part (matches played between May 2009 and May 2010). A lot can and will change before May 2011 as there are many matches to be played involving CONCACAF teams: 2010 FIFA World Cup, 2010 Caribbean Championship, 2011 UNCAF Nations Cup and plenty of friendlies.

This is the May 2011 ranking (for CONCACAF only) using matches played up to and including March 21st, 2010 and matches scheduled up to May 2010 (only those on fifa.com).

The "0.5" part is computed this way: points gained / (number of matches played + scheduled).

USA back on top. Guatemala (11th after winning against El Salvador) climbed to third pot, knocking Antigua and Barbuda to 4th pot. The first 12 teams avoid each other in the knock-out rounds.

Rank - Previous rank - Team - Total points

 1  2 USA                            494
 2  1 Mexico                         427
 3  3 Honduras                       396
----------------------------------------
 4  4 Costa Rica                     367
 5  5 Canada                         273
 6  6 El Salvador                    234
----------------------------------------
 7  7 Panama                         215
 8  8 Jamaica                        211
 9  9 Trinidad and Tobago            186
10 10 Haiti                          174
11 13 Guatemala                      123
12 11 Grenada                        115
----------------------------------------
13 12 Antigua and Barbuda            112
----------------------------------------
14 14 Guyana                          87
14 14 Cuba                            87
16 16 Bermuda                         80
17 17 Barbados                        70
18 18 Suriname                        67
19 19 Netherlands Antilles            57
20 20 St. Kitts and Nevis             56
21 21 Nicaragua                       53
22 22 Puerto Rico                     48
23 23 St. Vincent and the Grenadines  26
24 24 Cayman Islands                  24
----------------------------------------
25 25 Belize                          22
26 31 Dominica                        18
27 26 St. Lucia                       13
27 26 Turks and Caicos Islands        13
29 28 British Virgin Islands          12
30 29 Bahamas                          8
31 30 Aruba                            7
32 32 US Virgin Islands                3
33 33 Anguilla                         0
33 33 Dominican Republic               0
33 33 Montserrat                       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.

FIFA Ranking: March 2010 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.

Since no changes will take place in top 80, this will most likely be the final preview.

Included: matches up to and including March 17th, 2010.

FIFA removed from the list of "A" matches Romania - Israel 0 - 2, Portugal - China 1 - 0, Algeria - Serbia 0 - 3, Angola - Latvia 1 - 1, Belgium - Croatia 0 - 1 and Macedonia - Montenegro 2 - 1 because team(s) made more than 6 substitutions.

Three matches left - all friendlies:

21/Mar Iceland - Faroe Islands
21/Mar Namibia - Botswana
24/Mar Mexico - Iceland

Here's how the totals can change for these five teams:

Mexico (W: 931, D: 921, L: 916)
Iceland (WW: 392, WD: 364, WL: 349, DW: 379, DD: 350, DL: 336, LW: 372, LD: 343, LL: 329)
Namibia (W: 270, D: 250, L: 240)
Botswana (W: 251, D: 235, L: 228)
Faroe Islands (W: 242, D: 211, L: 196)

In the ranking table, the value displayed for these teams is the minimum possible value. This means that even if they lose, their total can't drop.

Two countries will improve their best ever ranking:

Montenegro (69th - 71st in January 2010)
Comoros (174th - 175th in February 2010)

Portugal will return to their best ever ranking - 4th, first achieved in March 2001.

Three countries will return to their worst ever ranking:

Tunisia (56th, first achieved in March 2008)
Central African Republic (202nd, first achieved in July 2009)

Three countries will have their worst ever ranking:

Malta (158th - 154th in February 2009)
St. Lucia (192nd - 191st in July 2009)
British Virgin Islands (195th - 193rd in January 2008)

Spain kept their place at the top of the rankings by defeating France. A draw would have seen Brazil back in first place. However, Brazil will return to the top on April 28th due to devaluation of results.

Portugal were the biggest movers in the top 10, climbing 2 places.

Central African Republic joins the group of teams with 0 points.

Best movers:

22 - Senegal
15 - Libya and Guatemala
13 - Albania and Moldova

Worst movers:

-19 - Uzbekistan
-18 - Cape Verde Islands
-14 - Guam

Best movers in the top 50:

9 - Norway
6 - Paraguay and Turkey
5 - Algeria

Worst movers in the top 50:

-11 - Northern Ireland
-8 - Bulgaria
-5 - Switzerland, Czech Republic and Republic of Ireland

Iran up to 5th in AFC, overtaking Bahrain.

USA back on top in CONCACAF, with Mexico unable to keep their place even if they win against Iceland.

Ghana drop out of the African top 5, being replaced by Algeria.

Portugal - 3rd in Europe, replacing Italy.

March 2010 rank - Team - March 2010 points - +/- Ranking - +/- Points

1	Spain	1602	0	-40
2	Brazil	1589	0	-5
3	Netherlands	1261	0	-63
4	Portugal	1214	2	13
5	Italy	1183	-1	-43
6	Germany	1157	-1	-51
7	England	1120	1	11
8	France	1077	-1	-94
9	Argentina	1075	0	-12
10	Croatia	1051	1	1
11	Greece	1032	-1	-42
12	Russia	1009	0	-33
13	Chile	974	1	3
14	Egypt	966	3	-1
15	Serbia	950	-2	-30
16	USA	948	2	-6
17	Mexico	916	-2	-52
18	Uruguay	902	1	-34
19	Australia	898	4	31
20	Cameroon	887	0	-1
20	Switzerland	887	-5	-81
22	Nigeria	883	-1	4
23	Paraguay	855	6	40
24	Norway	853	9	55
25	Côte d'Ivoire	846	-3	-28
26	Ukraine	837	-2	-14
27	Algeria	820	5	17
28	Israel	811	-2	-10
29	Slovenia	810	-2	-9
30	Czech Republic	809	-5	-34
31	Ghana	802	-3	-16
32	Romania	798	4	24
33	Slovakia	791	-2	-19
34	Denmark	778	-1	-20
35	Turkey	770	6	31
36	Ecuador	765	1	4
36	Honduras	765	-1	-11
38	Bulgaria	764	-8	-48
39	Colombia	741	-1	-16
40	Sweden	739	2	2
41	Scotland	732	4	51
42	Costa Rica	717	2	16
43	Gabon	707	0	1
44	Republic of Ireland	704	-5	-44
45	Japan	692	1	20
46	Latvia	666	1	4
47	Bosnia-Herzegovina	642	2	-2
48	Venezuela	633	1	-11
49	Korea Republic	629	4	13
50	Northern Ireland	628	-11	-120
51	Bolivia	597	7	51
52	Burkina Faso	589	-1	-49
52	Hungary	589	-4	-56
54	Finland	588	-2	-47
55	Austria	582	1	15
56	Tunisia	574	-1	-13
57	Mali	573	-3	-22
58	Lithuania	570	2	42
59	Poland	562	0	22
60	Peru	537	1	27
61	Benin	531	4	28
62	Saudi Arabia	520	-5	-35
63	Iran	517	4	25
64	Canada	516	-2	8
65	FYR Macedonia	509	-1	3
66	Belgium	506	2	15
67	Bahrain	501	-4	-6
68	Morocco	488	2	6
69	Montenegro	484	2	28
70	Cyprus	470	-4	-25
71	Zambia	452	2	3
72	Senegal	444	22	97
73	Togo	438	-4	-45
74	El Salvador	437	-2	-15
74	Uganda	437	0	-10
76	Panama	430	2	28
77	Wales	416	-1	-4
78	Jamaica	412	-1	4
79	New Zealand	409	1	11
80	Belarus	404	-1	4
81	Iraq	394	6	21
81	Malawi	394	1	6
83	Albania	389	13	54
84	China PR	382	-1	-4
85	Guinea	381	4	14
86	Angola	380	0	1
87	Moldova	372	13	44
87	South Africa	372	-6	-19
89	Mozambique	371	-5	-11
90	Haiti	362	0	-2
91	Gambia	361	4	16
92	Trinidad and Tobago	350	-7	-30
93	Kuwait	348	-5	-20
94	Uzbekistan	345	-19	-97
95	Oman	344	-2	-7
96	Syria	343	5	17
97	Qatar	342	-5	-12
98	Congo	329	5	9
98	Iceland	329	-7	-26
100	Estonia	317	-3	-15
101	Libya	305	15	78
102	Jordan	297	4	27
102	United Arab Emirates	297	13	67
104	Thailand	294	-5	-35
105	Korea DPR	293	-3	-32
106	Armenia	292	-3	-28
107	Rwanda	269	-2	-13
108	Yemen	262	-1	-5
109	Tanzania	259	-1	-5
110	Azerbaijan	257	-1	6
111	Congo DR	253	1	5
112	Zimbabwe	248	5	25
113	Kenya	243	0	-1
114	Guatemala	241	15	67
115	Namibia	240	-4	-9
116	Cape Verde Islands	236	-18	-95
117	Georgia	232	7	32
118	Vietnam	231	-4	0
119	Botswana	228	0	10
120	Antigua and Barbuda	217	3	14
121	Sudan	210	-12	-41
122	Guyana	205	-2	0
123	Ethiopia	204	-1	0
124	Luxembourg	198	2	2
125	Cuba	196	-1	-4
125	Faroe Islands	196	-7	-26
127	Singapore	193	-7	-12
128	Grenada	188	5	26
129	Kazakhstan	177	-2	-13
130	Tajikistan	176	-2	0
131	Fiji	167	-1	0
132	India	164	0	0
132	Swaziland	164	2	3
134	Sierra Leone	162	1	3
134	Turkmenistan	162	-4	-5
136	Bermuda	159	0	3
137	Barbados	157	4	21
138	Indonesia	155	-1	0
139	Maldives	151	1	5
140	Hong Kong	150	2	16
141	Myanmar	147	-2	0
141	Suriname	147	2	14
143	Equatorial Guinea	145	-5	-6
144	Chad	128	0	-4
145	Burundi	127	2	4
146	New Caledonia	126	-1	0
147	Malaysia	123	-1	-1
148	Lesotho	116	0	-3
149	Lebanon	113	0	-5
149	St. Kitts and Nevis	113	2	1
151	Kyrgyzstan	112	10	17
151	Liechtenstein	112	0	0
153	Pakistan	111	3	4
154	Madagascar	110	3	5
155	Vanuatu	108	0	0
156	Liberia	106	4	8
157	Sri Lanka	103	-3	-8
158	Bangladesh	102	0	0
158	Malta	102	-8	-14
160	Nepal	101	-9	-11
160	Nicaragua	101	-1	0
162	Netherlands Antilles	98	4	8
163	Chinese Taipei	95	-1	2
163	Eritrea	95	1	3
165	Niger	92	-1	0
166	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	91	2	5
167	Philippines	86	2	1
168	Mauritania	81	-6	-12
169	Puerto Rico	76	-2	-13
170	Solomon Islands	60	1	0
171	Cambodia	56	1	0
172	Mongolia	48	-2	-13
173	Palestine	45	0	-3
174	Comoros	43	1	0
175	Seychelles	41	-1	-3
176	Mauritius	40	1	0
177	Cayman Islands	39	1	0
177	Laos	39	1	0
177	Somalia	39	1	0
180	Samoa	38	1	0
181	Macau	36	7	5
182	Bahamas	35	-7	-8
183	Belize	34	-1	0
183	Cook Islands	34	-1	0
185	Dominica	33	0	0
186	Turks and Caicos Islands	32	0	0
187	Tonga	28	2	0
188	Dominican Republic	26	2	0
189	Brunei Darussalam	25	2	0
190	Djibouti	23	3	0
191	Afghanistan	20	3	0
192	Guinea-Bissau	19	3	0
192	St. Lucia	19	-6	-13
192	Tahiti	19	3	0
195	British Virgin Islands	18	-4	-7
196	Bhutan	17	1	0
196	Guam	17	-14	-17
198	Aruba	11	0	0
199	US Virgin Islands	5	0	-3
200	Timor-Leste	4	0	0
201	Andorra	2	1	-1
202	American Samoa	0	1	0
202	Anguilla	0	1	0
202	Central African Republic	0	-2	-4
202	Montserrat	0	1	0
202	Papua New Guinea	0	1	0
202	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.