FIFA Ranking: April 2012 preview

Next update: 23 March 2012.

Only the AFC Challenge Cup and two friendlies (Chile - Peru and Jamaica - Costa Rica) before the deadline. All Challenge Cup teams are below 100th, but there's good news for them as FIFA have upgraded ACC matches from friendly to continental qualifier.

Despite this low activity, there will be plenty of changes in the FIFA ranking because of devaluation of results.

Most points dropped (best case scenario):

-172 - Netherlands
-119 - Spain
-102 - Georgia
-93 - Israel
-93 - Cape Verde Islands
-67 - South Africa
-62 - Northern Ireland
-58 - Bosnia-Herzegovina
-54 - Serbia
-52 - Bulgaria

Most points gained (worst case scenario):

84 - Portugal
68 - Sierra Leone
67 - Colombia
65 - Croatia
55 - Wales
53 - Poland
46 - Russia
44 - Denmark
42 - Chad
36 - Czech Republic
36 - Libya

With the exception of Spain, all top 10 teams will move around, with Italy dropping out and Denmark taking their place.

Liberia, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Poland will all climb 10 or more places.

Georgia, Cuba and Israel will drop 18 or more spots.

In the top 50, Libya, El Salvador, Colombia, Romania and Wales will climb 7 or more places.

Israel will drop at least 18 places, Montenegro at least 10. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Estonia at least 6.

Four teams will improve their ranking:

Uruguay (3rd - 4th in September 2011)
Libya (46th - 53rd in February 2012)
El Salvador (49th - 54th in February 2012)
Chad (103rd or higher - 112th in March 2012)

American Samoa will return to their best ever ranking: 186th, first achieved in December 2011.

Two teams will return to their worst ever ranking:

British Virgin Islands (199th - 199th in December 2011)
Brunei Darussalam (202nd - 202nd in December 2011)

Eight teams will drop to new lows:

Bulgaria (96th or lower - 88th in February 2012)
Iceland (131st or lower - 124th in August 2011)
Cyprus (132nd or lower - 129th in March 2012)
Thailand (140th or lower - 139th in March 2012)
Singapore (156th or lower - 152nd in November 2011)
Barbados (171st - 170th in March 2012)
Solomon Islands (184th - 182nd in April 2011)
Kyrgyzstan (195th - 192nd in February 2012)

March 2012 rank - Country - March 2012 points - Minimum points - Maximum points

1	Spain	1561	1442	1442
2	Netherlands	1379	1207	1207
3	Germany	1332	1345	1345
4	Uruguay	1289	1309	1309
5	Brazil	1157	1165	1165
6	England	1121	1132	1132
7	Portugal	1106	1190	1190
8	Argentina	1102	1066	1066
9	Italy	1062	1041	1041
10	Croatia	1049	1114	1114
11	Denmark	1025	1069	1069
12	Russia	1003	1049	1049
13	Greece	953	961	961
14	Chile	950	938	967
15	Côte d'Ivoire	944	951	951
16	France	938	938	938
17	Sweden	926	931	931
18	Switzerland	891	891	891
19	Republic of Ireland	872	891	891
20	Australia	868	862	862
21	Bosnia-Herzegovina	850	792	792
22	Mexico	849	868	868
23	Ghana	820	816	816
24	Norway	797	805	805
25	Paraguay	791	803	803
26	Serbia	779	725	725
27	USA	772	779	779
28	Slovenia	765	781	781
29	Czech Republic	762	798	798
30	Korea Republic	751	746	746
31	Colombia	748	815	815
32	Turkey	747	720	720
33	Japan	740	753	753
34	Peru	720	719	756
35	Algeria	710	667	667
35	Slovakia	710	716	716
37	Hungary	658	692	692
38	Israel	651	558	558
39	Ecuador	648	673	673
40	Belgium	642	604	604
41	Zambia	630	640	640
42	Mali	629	656	656
43	Gabon	617	621	621
44	Armenia	601	598	598
44	Montenegro	601	569	569
46	Venezuela	593	617	617
47	Estonia	585	574	574
48	Wales	580	635	635
49	Ukraine	578	589	589
50	Panama	576	575	575
51	Iran	574	578	578
51	Scotland	574	596	596
53	Romania	573	603	603
54	Jamaica	571	555	586
55	Libya	566	602	602
56	Tunisia	564	563	563
57	Nigeria	557	554	554
58	El Salvador	554	589	589
59	Costa Rica	550	549	572
60	South Africa	549	482	482
61	Morocco	545	548	548
62	Cape Verde Islands	542	449	449
63	Honduras	533	550	550
64	Egypt	530	557	557
65	Guinea	509	499	499
66	Cameroon	505	526	526
67	Uzbekistan	502	493	493
68	China PR	495	503	503
69	Belarus	490	494	494
70	Senegal	482	448	448
71	Austria	472	475	475
72	Haiti	469	477	477
73	Sierra Leone	465	533	533
74	Georgia	462	360	360
75	Poland	461	514	514
76	Iraq	460	488	488
77	Burkina Faso	451	426	426
78	Latvia	444	465	465
79	Canada	443	450	450
80	Albania	432	384	384
81	Angola	424	440	440
82	Trinidad and Tobago	423	417	417
83	Jordan	420	420	420
84	Finland	412	430	430
85	Bulgaria	406	354	354
86	Guatemala	404	419	419
87	Northern Ireland	400	338	338
88	Qatar	388	384	384
88	Saudi Arabia	388	373	373
88	Uganda	388	376	376
91	Lithuania	383	373	373
92	Oman	381	361	361
93	Bahrain	373	361	361
94	Kuwait	368	376	376
95	Antigua and Barbuda	360	358	358
96	Malawi	354	332	332
97	Togo	349	374	374
98	Vietnam	347	347	347
99	Guyana	341	341	341
100	Botswana	338	321	321
101	Congo	331	366	366
102	FYR Macedonia	328	342	342
103	Bermuda	321	318	318
104	Mozambique	319	322	322
105	Rwanda	316	327	327
106	Bolivia	307	308	308
106	Zimbabwe	307	328	328
108	Equatorial Guinea	305	331	331
109	St. Kitts and Nevis	301	298	298
110	Sudan	300	292	292
111	Korea DPR	299	281	395
112	Chad	293	335	335
113	Kenya	292	285	285
114	Niger	289	274	274
115	Sao Tome e Principe	288	288	288
116	Azerbaijan	285	305	305
116	Cuba	285	244	244
116	Faroe Islands	285	284	284
119	New Zealand	284	256	256
120	Congo DR	281	283	283
121	Iceland	277	255	255
122	United Arab Emirates	275	281	281
123	Gambia	271	292	292
124	Lebanon	270	266	266
125	Liberia	268	293	293
126	Syria	267	268	268
127	Benin	264	269	269
127	Luxembourg	264	283	283
129	Cyprus	262	252	252
130	Suriname	254	252	252
131	Central African Republic	251	271	271
132	Burundi	250	267	267
132	Namibia	250	281	281
134	Puerto Rico	249	236	236
135	Dominican Republic	247	247	247
136	Belize	238	235	235
137	Grenada	236	217	217
137	Liechtenstein	236	261	261
139	Thailand	235	232	232
140	Ethiopia	231	236	236
141	Tanzania	228	215	215
142	Kazakhstan	224	243	243
143	Moldova	216	222	222
144	Nicaragua	211	211	211
145	Tajikistan	210	226	350
146	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	188	190	190
147	Indonesia	160	160	160
148	Malta	152	161	161
148	Yemen	152	148	148
150	Samoa	149	149	149
150	Singapore	149	145	145
152	Malaysia	148	148	148
153	Nepal	144	164	245
154	Curacao	142	138	138
155	Bahamas	141	132	132
156	Philippines	136	124	242
157	Fiji	133	133	133
158	Hong Kong	132	132	132
158	India	132	122	211
160	Lesotho	131	131	131
160	Palestine	131	137	207
162	New Caledonia	126	150	150
163	Madagascar	123	121	121
164	Aruba	120	120	120
164	Bangladesh	120	154	154
166	Cambodia	114	101	101
166	Turkmenistan	114	147	293
168	Chinese Taipei	110	117	117
168	Guinea-Bissau	110	116	116
170	Barbados	107	106	106
171	Mongolia	106	90	90
172	Vanuatu	103	103	103
173	Laos	96	96	96
174	Dominica	95	95	95
174	Maldives	95	111	176
176	Tonga	88	88	88
177	Myanmar	86	101	101
178	Afghanistan	85	118	118
179	Swaziland	83	86	86
180	US Virgin Islands	82	78	78
181	Pakistan	76	80	80
182	Solomon Islands	75	75	75
183	Tahiti	73	86	86
184	Cayman Islands	72	72	72
185	St. Lucia	65	52	52
186	Sri Lanka	62	82	82
187	American Samoa	61	61	61
188	Comoros	55	60	60
189	Seychelles	47	47	47
190	Eritrea	45	45	45
191	Somalia	43	43	43
192	Kyrgyzstan	39	29	29
193	Guam	36	32	32
194	Papua New Guinea	34	34	34
195	Mauritius	32	37	37
196	Cook Islands	28	28	28
197	British Virgin Islands	23	13	13
197	Djibouti	23	23	23
199	Macau	20	19	19
200	Anguilla	9	9	9
201	Bhutan	6	6	6
201	Brunei Darussalam	6	4	4
203	Mauritania	4	4	4
204	Timor-Leste	2	2	2
205	Andorra	0	0	0
205	Montserrat	0	0	0
205	San Marino	0	0	0
205	Turks and Caicos Islands	0	0	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.