2013 Africa Cup of Nations: A look at the qualification

In September 2010, CAF announced the qualifying system for the 2013 edition.

Countries that do not qualify for the Orange CAN Gabon – Equatorial Guinea 2012 will play a first round eliminatory, with direct elimination, with a view to finding fifteen teams. The period from 15 January 2012 to 15 February 2012 was chosen for this first round.

If Libya South Africa doesn’t qualify for the Orange CAN 2012, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea will play home and away play-off and the winner will participate in the second round qualifiers.

I doubt they will trim the field to 15 teams during that period. Most likely it will be only a preliminary round. Here's why.Looking at the CAF 2014 World Cup calendar and at FIFA's match dates for 2012, you'll notice there are two conspicuous double match dates available for CAF: 7-11 September and 12-16 October.

There are 37 teams that didn't qualify for the 2012 edition. With South Africa hosting the 2013 event, that leaves 36 teams. Of course, that doesn't mean all 36 will want to play in the 2013 preliminaries.

The preliminary round should involve the bottom 12 teams in the FIFA rankings to trim the field to 30 teams.

Probably the second round will be in September, with the final round scheduled for October.

In 2010, the draw took place at the 2010 CAF Super Cup, on 20 February 2010. Next year this event is scheduled for 24-26 February, with the February 2012 FIFA Ranking set to be published on 15 February.


Looking at the intermediate February 2012 ranking, this is how the qualification could look:

Preliminary round

Pot 1: Guinea-Bissau, Swaziland, Madagascar, Lesotho, Seychelles, Comoros
Pot 2: Mauritius, Somalia, Eritrea, Mauritania, Djibouti, Sao Tome e Principe

Second round

Pot 1: Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Egypt, Cape Verde Islands, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Malawi, Cameroon, Uganda, Gambia, Central African Republic, Togo, Benin, Mozambique, Rwanda
Pot 2: Kenya, Tanzania, Congo DR, Ethiopia, Liberia, Congo, Namibia, Burundi, Chad plus six winners from the previous round.

Final round

Pot 1: Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Libya, Guinea, Mali, Tunisia, Angola, Zambia, Morocco, Niger, Botswana, Sudan and the winner of Gabon/Equatorial Guinea
Pot 2: 15 winners from the previous round

It's quite possible to see matches like Côte d'Ivoire vs. Egypt, Ghana vs. Nigeria, Senegal vs. Cameroon or Morocco vs. Algeria in the final round.

This could be a disaster for CAF - and the sales of TV rights. In order to protect their flagship competition, CAF might create four pots in the final round.

Pot 1: Top 8 from the 2012 edition
Pot 2: the remaining 7 teams
Pot 3: Top 7 from the February 2012 FIFA ranking
Pot 4: the other 8 teams

and draw Pot 1 vs. Pot 4 and Pot 2 vs. Pot 3.

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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.

EURO 2012 qualifying: 24 teams outcome

Most of this article is based on fillow's post on Bert Kassies forum.

Who would have qualified for a 2012 EURO with 24 teams?

The two hosts, 9 group winners, 9 group runners-up and 4 teams from play-offs between the best third placed teams.

Ranking of third placed teams discarding results against the sixth ranked team in the group where applicable:

Norway      16 10 -  7
Hungary     13 11 - 14
Armenia     11 15 - 10
Switzerland 11 12 - 10
Scotland    11  9 - 10
Israel      10  8 - 10
Belgium      9 15 - 14
Serbia       9  7 - 11
Romania      8  8 -  8

Romania out as the worst third placed team. Yes, Romania :)

Seeding for the play-offs:

Serbia      27975
Switzerland 27745
Norway      27093
Israel      26942
-----------------
Hungary     26110
Scotland    24426
Belgium     22539
Armenia     19746

Assuming the seeds would have qualified with a win and a draw, these would have been the pots for the final draw:

Poland             23086
Ukraine            28029
Spain              43116
Netherlands        40860
Germany            40446
Italy              34357
------------------------
England            33563
Russia             33212
Croatia            32723
Greece             32455
Sweden             31675
Denmark            31205
------------------------
Portugal           31202
France             30508
Switzerland        28715
Serbia             28705
Ireland            28203
Czech Republic     27982
------------------------
Israel             27602
Turkey             27601
Norway             27558
Bosnia-Herzegovina 27198
Montenegro         21876
Estonia            20354

Pot 1: Poland, Ukraine, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Italy
Pot 2: England, Russia, Croatia, Greece, Sweden, Denmark
Pot 3: Portugal, France, Switzerland, Serbia, Ireland, Czech Republic
Pot 4: Israel, Turkey, Norway, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Estonia

So who's waiting eagerly for the 2016 edition? Taking into account the latest preliminaries and my previous post about the EURO expansion, these are the top 10 teams that will benefit: Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Serbia, Turkey, Israel, Northern Ireland, Belgium, England and Croatia.

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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.

October 2011: FIFA Ranking vs. Elo Ratings

Top 10 differences for countries with a better Elo Rating:

Team - FIFA Ranking - Elo Rating - Difference

Solomon Islands	180	120	60
Vanuatu	174	130	44
Syria	106	65	41
Mauritania	200	160	40
New Zealand	105	66	39
New Caledonia	156	119	37
Tahiti	182	145	37
Kuwait	96	61	35
Korea DPR	124	92	32
Fiji	149	117	32

Top 10 differences for countries with a better FIFA Ranking:

Team - FIFA Ranking - Elo Rating - Difference

Algeria	35	93	-58
Sierra Leone	63	116	-53
St. Kitts and Nevis	109	155	-46
Luxembourg	118	163	-45
Suriname	104	147	-43
Antigua and Barbuda	90	129	-39
Cape Verde Islands	66	104	-38
Grenada	116	152	-36
Puerto Rico	137	172	-35
Bangladesh	141	176	-35

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

Poland	64	37	27
Ukraine	58	32	26
Ecuador	52	27	25
Czech Republic	47	30	17
Romania	55	41	14
Costa Rica	62	49	13
Iran	42	30	12
Korea Republic	31	20	11
Scotland	51	40	11
Mexico	22	13	9

Top 10 differences for countries with a better FIFA Ranking:

Team - FIFA Ranking - Elo Rating - Difference

Algeria	35	93	-58
Armenia	46	80	-34
Slovakia	41	71	-30
Slovenia	27	47	-20
Bosnia-Herzegovina	21	39	-18
Switzerland	18	33	-15
Greece	8	20	-12
Serbia	23	35	-12
Montenegro	39	50	-11
Senegal	42	53	-11

Matches I would have liked to see before the next ranking:

Poland - Algeria
Ukraine - Armenia
Ecuador - Slovakia
Czech Republic - Slovenia
Romania - Sierra Leone
Costa Rica - Estonia
Iran - Bosnia-Herzegovina
Korea Republic - Montenegro
Scotland - Georgia
Mexico - Switzerland

---

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: November 2011 probable ranking

Next update: 18 November 2011.

Sao Tome e Principe will return to the ranking if they don't withdraw from the World Cup qualifiers.

FIFA will publish the ranking on 23 November.

Probable results computed using the Elo Ratings. See the list of results used for this ranking.

Haiti, Congo, Curacao and Puerto Rico expected to climb 20 or more spots.

Dominica, Suriname, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Thailand expected to drop 15 or more spots.

Probable November 2011 rank - Team - Probable November 2011 points - +/- Ranking - +/- Points

1	Spain	1634	0	10
2	Netherlands	1399	0	-26
3	Germany	1367	0	15
4	Uruguay	1285	0	55
5	Portugal	1190	3	146
6	Brazil	1143	-1	-1
7	England	1107	0	6
8	Croatia	1091	4	76
9	Italy	1076	-3	-59
10	Argentina	1047	0	17
11	Greece	1041	-3	-3
12	Denmark	1023	-2	-7
13	Chile	970	3	29
14	Russia	953	-1	-22
15	Côte d'Ivoire	948	4	50
16	France	940	-1	-13
17	Japan	917	0	-7
18	Republic of Ireland	914	7	102
19	Sweden	907	-5	-48
20	Australia	888	0	20
21	Switzerland	876	-3	-44
22	Mexico	866	0	6
23	Serbia	847	0	-7
24	Colombia	815	6	58
25	Norway	805	-1	-33
26	Bosnia-Herzegovina	798	-5	-66
27	Slovenia	797	0	10
28	Paraguay	795	0	10
29	Turkey	769	-3	-34
30	Egypt	757	-1	-18
31	Ghana	755	2	21
31	Korea Republic	755	0	1
33	Peru	736	-1	-10
34	USA	701	0	-19
35	Czech Republic	682	12	82
36	Algeria	674	-1	-39
37	Hungary	665	-1	-36
37	Israel	665	1	-4
39	Slovakia	648	2	19
40	Iran	643	2	17
41	Venezuela	640	-1	8
42	Senegal	639	0	13
43	Nigeria	638	1	13
44	Montenegro	634	-5	-21
45	Scotland	613	6	32
46	Armenia	612	0	4
47	Jamaica	609	3	17
48	Belgium	604	-11	-66
49	South Africa	595	0	0
50	Panama	586	3	7
51	Ecuador	581	1	1
52	Cameroon	580	-5	-20
53	Honduras	559	4	4
53	Morocco	559	3	-7
55	Romania	556	0	-19
56	Tunisia	555	4	14
56	Wales	555	-11	-64
58	Ukraine	552	0	1
59	Libya	547	6	43
60	Cape Verde Islands	544	6	44
61	Burkina Faso	534	-7	-44
62	Sierra Leone	521	1	2
63	Estonia	514	-4	-28
64	Belarus	507	-3	-22
65	Costa Rica	493	-3	-29
66	Poland	492	-2	-14
67	Canada	491	16	66
68	Mali	488	0	15
69	Haiti	472	38	165
70	China PR	468	0	5
71	Latvia	466	4	19
72	Guinea	464	3	17
73	Albania	463	-2	1
73	El Salvador	463	9	37
75	Austria	459	-3	1
76	Zambia	455	4	23
77	Georgia	451	-10	-24
78	Jordan	450	3	22
78	Uzbekistan	450	-5	-2
80	Zimbabwe	448	-6	0
81	Gabon	445	-13	-28
82	Trinidad and Tobago	434	-3	1
83	Finland	430	-5	-8
84	Angola	412	2	8
85	Bulgaria	409	-10	-38
86	Malawi	407	1	7
87	Qatar	404	5	33
88	Northern Ireland	403	-4	-18
89	Guatemala	397	10	57
90	Cuba	390	10	58
91	Saudi Arabia	383	7	42
92	Lithuania	382	-7	-34
93	Antigua and Barbuda	381	-3	0
94	Uganda	376	-6	-17
95	Iraq	374	-4	-5
96	Niger	373	-1	21
97	Botswana	372	-8	-14
98	Kuwait	371	-2	21
99	FYR Macedonia	359	-6	-2
100	Togo	350	-6	-9
101	Guyana	326	-4	-20
102	Iceland	325	6	25
103	Mozambique	324	7	43
104	Oman	309	-1	-8
105	Grenada	308	11	38
106	Bahrain	301	-5	-23
107	Sudan	300	-5	-23
108	Rwanda	298	4	21
109	Syria	292	-3	-17
110	Faroe Islands	285	12	28
111	Liberia	282	10	24
112	Congo	281	26	94
113	Gambia	280	-2	0
114	Bolivia	275	1	2
115	Namibia	274	12	26
116	Puerto Rico	272	21	73
117	New Zealand	271	-12	-39
118	Bermuda	269	14	44
118	Dominican Republic	269	10	24
120	United Arab Emirates	264	-7	-12
121	Cyprus	263	-1	4
122	Azerbaijan	261	-5	-4
122	Suriname	261	-18	-52
124	Benin	257	-5	-3
125	Congo DR	256	8	33
126	Luxembourg	252	-8	-11
126	St. Kitts and Nevis	252	-17	-37
128	Central African Republic	251	-3	0
129	Liechtenstein	246	-3	-3
130	Thailand	245	-16	-30
131	Korea DPR	243	-7	-11
132	Kenya	240	3	35
133	Vietnam	234	1	12
134	Tanzania	233	-3	2
135	Ethiopia	230	1	29
136	Moldova	229	-13	-26
137	Kazakhstan	219	-8	-16
138	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	208	8	37
139	Tajikistan	207	-9	-25
140	Burundi	201	1	18
141	Bangladesh	181	0	-2
142	Indonesia	177	-2	-7
143	Nepal	165	1	-11
144	Turkmenistan	164	1	-8
145	Belize	161	-2	-16
145	Equatorial Guinea	161	10	21
147	Curacao	154	24	55
148	Yemen	153	1	-5
149	Singapore	146	-10	-39
150	Lebanon	144	-4	-27
151	Bahamas	141	3	0
151	Nicaragua	141	9	26
153	Malta	139	5	12
154	Barbados	138	-6	-26
154	Chad	138	-2	-13
156	Malaysia	137	-5	-18
157	Fiji	133	-8	-25
158	Philippines	130	0	3
159	Guinea-Bissau	129	8	23
160	India	126	0	11
161	New Caledonia	116	-5	-12
162	Palestine	113	2	1
163	Chinese Taipei	109	3	1
164	Lesotho	108	-2	-6
165	Maldives	106	-3	-8
165	Mongolia	106	2	0
167	Hong Kong	105	-11	-23
168	Madagascar	104	-3	-7
169	Cambodia	103	7	18
169	Myanmar	103	1	2
171	Vanuatu	96	3	8
172	Aruba	92	0	0
173	Dominica	90	-21	-61
174	Pakistan	87	-1	-4
175	Laos	86	6	12
176	Sri Lanka	85	1	2
177	US Virgin Islands	82	-8	-22
178	St. Lucia	81	1	3
179	Afghanistan	77	5	8
180	Solomon Islands	75	0	0
180	Swaziland	75	-5	-12
182	Tahiti	73	0	0
183	Seychelles	69	-5	-13
184	Eritrea	65	6	37
185	Comoros	55	-2	-17
186	Cayman Islands	48	-1	-3
187	Kyrgyzstan	42	-1	-7
188	Guam	36	-1	0
189	Papua New Guinea	34	-1	0
190	Mauritius	27	-1	-5
191	Macau	26	0	1
192	British Virgin Islands	23	0	0
192	Somalia	23	0	0
194	Turks and Caicos Islands	13	0	0
195	Cook Islands	10	1	0
196	Anguilla	9	1	0
197	Bhutan	6	2	0
197	Brunei Darussalam	6	0	-3
199	Djibouti	5	-4	-7
200	Mauritania	4	0	0
201	Tonga	3	0	0
202	Timor-Leste	2	-1	-1
203	American Samoa	0	0	0
203	Andorra	0	0	0
203	Montserrat	0	0	0
203	Samoa	0	0	0
203	San Marino	0	0	0
203	Sao Tome e Principe	0	5	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.

FIFA Ranking: November 2011 probable results

Here are the probable results used for the November 2011 probable ranking. They are generated using the Elo Ratings.

Only matches displayed on FIFA.com this morning around 8:00 CET.

Before posting comments like: "Hey my team actually beat the other team! It's a mistake!" please read the previous paragraph again and look when these results were posted (Yes, before the matches actually took place!) ;)

1 - First team wins
X - Draw
2 - Second team wins

31/Oct Namibia - Lesotho 1 (Friendly)
03/Nov Thailand - Nepal 1 (Friendly)
10/Nov Gabon - Brazil 2 (Friendly)
11/Nov Ukraine - Germany 2 (Friendly)
11/Nov Paraguay - Ecuador 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Uruguay - Chile 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Argentina - Bolivia 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Colombia - Venezuela 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Suriname - El Salvador 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Guyana - Trinidad and Tobago X (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Nicaragua - Dominica 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Dominican Republic - Cayman Islands 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov St. Lucia - Puerto Rico X (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Bermuda - Barbados 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov St. Kitts and Nevis - Canada 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Antigua and Barbuda - Haiti X (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov US Virgin Islands - Curacao 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Guatemala - Grenada 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Belize - St. Vincent and the Grenadines X (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Poland - Italy X (Friendly)
11/Nov Panama - Costa Rica 1 (Friendly)
11/Nov Bosnia-Herzegovina - Portugal 2 (Continental Qualifier)
11/Nov Czech Republic - Montenegro 1 (Continental Qualifier)
11/Nov Estonia - Republic of Ireland 2 (Continental Qualifier)
11/Nov Turkey - Croatia X (Continental Qualifier)
11/Nov Belgium - Romania X (Friendly)
11/Nov Denmark - Sweden X (Friendly)
11/Nov Georgia - Moldova 1 (Friendly)
11/Nov Albania - Azerbaijan 1 (Friendly)
11/Nov Greece - Russia 1 (Friendly)
11/Nov Hungary - Liechtenstein 1 (Friendly)
11/Nov Tajikistan - Japan 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Sao Tome e Principe - Congo 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Djibouti - Namibia 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Comoros - Mozambique 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Eritrea - Rwanda X (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Chad - Tanzania X (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Equatorial Guinea - Madagascar 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Guinea-Bissau - Togo X (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov United Arab Emirates - Korea Republic 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Iraq - China PR X (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Kuwait - Lebanon 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Cameroon - Sudan 1 (Friendly)
11/Nov Jordan - Singapore 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Uzbekistan - Korea DPR 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Oman - Australia 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Mauritius - Liberia 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Bahrain - Iran 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Qatar - Indonesia 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Swaziland - Congo DR 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Saudi Arabia - Thailand 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Lesotho - Burundi X (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
11/Nov Netherlands - Switzerland 1 (Friendly)
11/Nov Morocco - Uganda 1 (Friendly)
11/Nov France - USA 1 (Friendly)
12/Nov Algeria - Tunisia X (Friendly)
12/Nov South Africa - Côte d'Ivoire 2 (Friendly)
12/Nov Wales - Norway X (Friendly)
12/Nov Somalia - Ethiopia 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
12/Nov Seychelles - Kenya 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
12/Nov England - Spain 2 (Friendly)
13/Nov India - Malaysia 1 (Friendly)
13/Nov Morocco - Cameroon X (Friendly)
13/Nov Sudan - Uganda 2 (Friendly)
14/Nov Brazil - Egypt 1 (Friendly)
15/Nov Germany - Netherlands 1 (Friendly)
15/Nov Ukraine - Austria 1 (Friendly)
15/Nov Ecuador - Peru X (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Venezuela - Bolivia 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Chile - Paraguay 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Colombia - Argentina X (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov El Salvador - Suriname 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Barbados - Bermuda X (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Panama - Dominica 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Trinidad and Tobago - Guyana 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Cayman Islands - Dominican Republic 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Canada - St. Kitts and Nevis 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Puerto Rico - St. Lucia 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov St. Vincent and the Grenadines - Belize 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Curacao - US Virgin Islands 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Haiti - Antigua and Barbuda 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Grenada - Guatemala 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Italy - Uruguay X (Friendly)
15/Nov Algeria - Cameroon X (Friendly)
15/Nov Costa Rica - Spain 2 (Friendly)
15/Nov FYR Macedonia - Albania 1 (Friendly)
15/Nov Portugal - Bosnia-Herzegovina 1 (Continental Qualifier)
15/Nov Republic of Ireland - Estonia 1 (Continental Qualifier)
15/Nov Croatia - Turkey 1 (Continental Qualifier)
15/Nov Montenegro - Czech Republic X (Continental Qualifier)
15/Nov France - Belgium 1 (Friendly)
15/Nov Poland - Hungary 1 (Friendly)
15/Nov Slovenia - USA X (Friendly)
15/Nov Lebanon - Korea Republic 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Madagascar - Equatorial Guinea X (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Congo - Sao Tome e Principe 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Burundi - Lesotho 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Rwanda - Eritrea 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Togo - Guinea-Bissau 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Congo DR - Swaziland 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Korea DPR - Japan 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Tanzania - Chad 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Kenya - Seychelles 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Kuwait - United Arab Emirates 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Jordan - Iraq 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Uzbekistan - Tajikistan 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Thailand - Australia 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Indonesia - Iran 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Qatar - Bahrain 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Mozambique - Comoros 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Singapore - China PR 2 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Saudi Arabia - Oman 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Namibia - Djibouti 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov Liberia - Mauritius 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)
15/Nov England - Sweden 1 (Friendly)
15/Nov Luxembourg - Switzerland 2 (Friendly)
16/Nov Morocco - Gabon 1 (Friendly)
16/Nov India - Malaysia 1 (Friendly)
16/Nov Ethiopia - Somalia 1 (FIFA World Cup Qualifier)

---

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: November 2011 preview

Next update: 18 November 2011.

Sao Tome e Principe will return to the ranking if they don't withdraw from the World Cup qualifiers.

Most points dropped (best case scenario):

-44 - Burkina Faso
-39 - New Zealand
-38 - Bulgaria
-34 - Lithuania
-28 - Wales
-25 - Fiji
-24 - Georgia
-23 - Hong Kong
-22 - Belarus
-18 - Northern Ireland

Most points gained (worst case scenario):

58 - Cuba
44 - Cape Verde Islands
43 - Libya
38 - Grenada
32 - Scotland
28 - Faroe Islands
27 - Haiti
25 - Iceland
23 - Zambia
21 - Ghana and Niger


October 2011 rank - Country - October 2011 points - Minimum points - Maximum points

1	Spain	1624	1553	1634
2	Netherlands	1425	1349	1452
3	Germany	1352	1289	1367
4	Uruguay	1230	1187	1309
5	Brazil	1144	1090	1143
6	Italy	1135	1048	1131
7	England	1101	1045	1173
8	Greece	1044	990	1041
8	Portugal	1044	921	1190
10	Argentina	1030	997	1088
10	Denmark	1030	1002	1064
12	Croatia	1015	933	1170
13	Russia	975	953	1006
14	Sweden	955	891	987
15	France	953	866	940
16	Chile	941	890	1062
17	Japan	924	854	917
18	Switzerland	920	849	942
19	Côte d'Ivoire	898	893	948
20	Australia	868	818	888
21	Bosnia-Herzegovina	864	798	1038
22	Mexico	860	866	866
23	Serbia	854	847	847
24	Norway	838	788	839
25	Republic of Ireland	812	763	914
26	Turkey	803	722	1004
27	Slovenia	787	780	832
28	Paraguay	785	736	867
29	Egypt	775	757	806
30	Colombia	757	676	894
31	Korea Republic	754	704	755
32	Peru	746	712	786
33	Ghana	734	755	755
34	USA	720	691	754
35	Algeria	713	632	758
36	Hungary	701	645	702
37	Belgium	670	591	681
38	Israel	669	665	665
39	Montenegro	655	586	873
40	Venezuela	632	608	704
41	Slovakia	629	648	648
42	Iran	626	579	643
42	Senegal	626	639	639
44	Nigeria	625	638	638
45	Wales	619	538	591
46	Armenia	608	612	612
47	Cameroon	600	528	633
47	Czech Republic	600	548	749
49	South Africa	595	595	654
50	Jamaica	592	609	609
51	Scotland	581	613	613
52	Ecuador	580	556	706
53	Panama	579	553	586
54	Burkina Faso	578	534	534
55	Romania	575	543	581
56	Morocco	566	474	588
57	Honduras	555	559	559
58	Ukraine	551	520	601
59	Estonia	542	514	689
60	Tunisia	541	537	591
61	Belarus	529	507	507
62	Costa Rica	522	493	540
63	Sierra Leone	519	521	521
64	Poland	506	443	520
65	Libya	504	547	547
66	Cape Verde Islands	500	544	544
67	Georgia	475	426	451
68	Gabon	473	445	576
68	Mali	473	488	488
70	China PR	463	435	492
71	Albania	462	440	492
72	Austria	458	459	498
73	Uzbekistan	452	398	450
74	Zimbabwe	448	448	448
75	Bulgaria	447	409	409
75	Guinea	447	464	464
75	Latvia	447	466	466
78	Finland	438	430	430
79	Trinidad and Tobago	433	334	485
80	Zambia	432	455	455
81	Jordan	428	400	450
82	El Salvador	426	399	463
83	Canada	425	382	491
84	Northern Ireland	421	403	403
85	Lithuania	416	382	382
86	Angola	404	412	412
87	Malawi	400	407	407
88	Uganda	393	360	399
89	Botswana	386	372	372
90	Antigua and Barbuda	381	362	474
91	Iraq	379	362	429
92	Qatar	371	353	404
93	FYR Macedonia	361	320	359
94	Togo	359	289	381
95	Niger	352	373	373
96	Kuwait	350	336	371
97	Guyana	346	304	437
98	Saudi Arabia	341	324	383
99	Guatemala	340	323	397
100	Cuba	332	390	390
101	Bahrain	324	301	396
102	Sudan	323	300	345
103	Oman	317	309	422
104	Suriname	313	261	456
105	New Zealand	310	271	271
106	Syria	309	292	292
107	Haiti	307	334	541
108	Iceland	300	325	325
109	St. Kitts and Nevis	289	252	445
110	Mozambique	281	243	324
111	Gambia	280	280	280
112	Rwanda	277	244	324
113	United Arab Emirates	276	264	357
114	Thailand	275	235	366
115	Bolivia	273	275	463
116	Grenada	270	308	387
117	Azerbaijan	265	261	300
118	Luxembourg	263	252	306
119	Benin	260	257	257
120	Cyprus	259	263	263
121	Liberia	258	210	282
122	Faroe Islands	257	285	285
123	Moldova	255	229	269
124	Korea DPR	254	243	349
125	Central African Republic	251	251	251
126	Liechtenstein	249	246	307
127	Namibia	248	188	274
128	Dominican Republic	245	203	269
129	Kazakhstan	235	219	219
130	Tajikistan	232	207	373
131	Tanzania	231	211	245
132	Bermuda	225	193	307
133	Congo DR	223	207	256
134	Vietnam	222	234	234
135	Kenya	205	204	240
136	Ethiopia	201	184	230
137	Puerto Rico	199	199	309
138	Congo	187	173	281
139	Singapore	185	146	260
140	Indonesia	184	177	272
141	Bangladesh	183	181	181
141	Burundi	183	165	219
143	Belize	177	151	215
144	Nepal	176	165	185
145	Turkmenistan	172	164	164
146	Lebanon	171	144	304
146	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	171	157	233
148	Barbados	164	125	206
149	Fiji	158	133	133
149	Yemen	158	153	153
151	Malaysia	155	137	153
152	Chad	151	113	262
152	Dominica	151	90	350
154	Bahamas	141	141	141
155	Equatorial Guinea	140	108	188
156	Hong Kong	128	105	105
156	New Caledonia	128	116	116
158	Malta	127	139	139
158	Philippines	127	130	130
160	India	115	106	126
160	Nicaragua	115	108	141
162	Lesotho	114	87	245
162	Maldives	114	106	106
164	Palestine	112	113	113
165	Madagascar	111	89	181
166	Chinese Taipei	108	109	109
167	Guinea-Bissau	106	96	292
167	Mongolia	106	106	106
169	US Virgin Islands	104	82	155
170	Myanmar	101	103	103
171	Curacao	99	88	154
172	Aruba	92	92	92
173	Pakistan	91	87	87
174	Vanuatu	88	96	96
175	Swaziland	87	75	147
176	Cambodia	85	103	103
177	Sri Lanka	83	85	85
178	Seychelles	82	69	208
179	St. Lucia	78	65	158
180	Solomon Islands	75	75	75
181	Laos	74	86	86
182	Tahiti	73	73	73
183	Comoros	72	55	184
184	Afghanistan	69	77	77
185	Cayman Islands	51	48	206
186	Kyrgyzstan	49	42	42
187	Guam	36	36	36
188	Papua New Guinea	34	34	34
189	Mauritius	32	27	129
190	Eritrea	28	28	255
191	Macau	25	26	26
192	British Virgin Islands	23	23	23
192	Somalia	23	23	188
194	Turks and Caicos Islands	13	13	13
195	Djibouti	12	5	194
196	Cook Islands	10	10	10
197	Anguilla	9	9	9
197	Brunei Darussalam	9	6	6
199	Bhutan	6	6	6
200	Mauritania	4	4	4
201	Timor-Leste	3	2	2
201	Tonga	3	3	3
203	American Samoa	0	0	0
203	Andorra	0	0	0
203	Montserrat	0	0	0
203	Samoa	0	0	0
203	San Marino	0	0	0
-	Sao Tome e Principe	0	0	160

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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.