May 2013: Recommended friendly impact

You have seen posts with best teams to play against. What would be the impact of such a friendly?

The best opponent to play against is determined using a combination of Elo ratings and FIFA rankings. Let's look at the May FIFA ranking and we'll see the impact of one extra friendly. The difference in ranking is computed assuming all things remain equal, except the points of the given team.

The most popular opponent for the month of April is Equatorial Guinea - the best opponent for no less than 107 teams.
Unsurprisingly, all of the top 15 teams (with the exception of the Netherlands) totals would have dropped with an extra friendly. The Netherlands would have gained 5 points by defeating Greece, but would have remained 9th.

Teams from the top 100 that would have gained the most (ranking-wise):

9 - Armenia
8 - Libya and Scotland
7 - Gabon

Recommended opponent for all 5 teams: Equatorial Guinea.

Teams from the top 50 that would have gained the most (ranking-wise):

4 - Australia
3 - Paraguay
2 - Republic of Ireland, Serbia, Korea Republic and Turkey

Recommended opponent for all 6 teams: Albania.

May Ranking - Team - Recommended opponent - Point difference - Rank difference

1	Spain	Greece	-14	0
2	Germany	Greece	-12	0
3	Argentina	Greece	-13	0
4	Croatia	Montenegro	-10	0
5	Portugal	Montenegro	-2	0
6	Colombia	Montenegro	-20	-1
7	England	Greece	-1	0
8	Italy	Montenegro	-4	0
9	Netherlands	Greece	5	0
10	Ecuador	Montenegro	-19	-1
11	Russia	Montenegro	-3	0
12	Côte d'Ivoire	Montenegro	-3	0
13	Greece	Algeria	-2	0
14	Switzerland	Algeria	-7	0
15	Belgium	Algeria	-15	-1
16	Mexico	Montenegro	0	0
17	Uruguay	Algeria	14	1
18	France	Montenegro	4	0
19	Brazil	Greece	15	1
20	Denmark	Algeria	6	1
21	Bosnia-Herzegovina	Algeria	-5	0
22	Ghana	Albania	-1	0
23	Chile	Montenegro	13	0
24	Sweden	Montenegro	11	1
25	Czech Republic	Albania	2	0
26	Mali	Equatorial Guinea	-11	0
27	Montenegro	Albania	-2	0
28	Nigeria	Albania	-6	-1
29	USA	Albania	2	1
30	Japan	Albania	2	0
31	Norway	Algeria	11	0
32	Peru	Albania	5	0
33	Hungary	Albania	4	1
34	Romania	Albania	1	0
35	Algeria	Equatorial Guinea	-2	0
36	Venezuela	Albania	5	0
37	Ukraine	Albania	4	0
38	Panama	Albania	2	0
39	Republic of Ireland	Albania	16	2
40	Serbia	Albania	12	2
41	Tunisia	Albania	4	0
42	Korea Republic	Albania	15	2
43	Albania	Equatorial Guinea	-5	0
44	Paraguay	Albania	19	3
44	Turkey	Albania	12	2
46	Zambia	Equatorial Guinea	4	0
47	Australia	Albania	16	4
48	Costa Rica	Albania	3	0
49	Wales	Equatorial Guinea	11	0
50	Burkina Faso	Equatorial Guinea	-1	-1
50	Honduras	Albania	6	1
52	Bulgaria	Albania	3	0
53	Jamaica	Equatorial Guinea	5	0
54	Slovakia	Equatorial Guinea	16	1
55	Slovenia	Equatorial Guinea	25	3
56	South Africa	Equatorial Guinea	4	0
57	Iran	Albania	12	1
58	Bolivia	Equatorial Guinea	-2	-2
59	Haiti	Equatorial Guinea	6	3
59	Israel	Equatorial Guinea	11	3
61	Equatorial Guinea	Central African Republic	-3	-1
62	Cameroon	Equatorial Guinea	8	6
63	Poland	Albania	10	6
64	Central African Republic	Equatorial Guinea	-2	0
65	Libya	Equatorial Guinea	15	8
66	Uzbekistan	Equatorial Guinea	7	2
67	Sierra Leone	Central African Republic	8	2
68	Egypt	Albania	12	3
69	Belarus	Equatorial Guinea	14	1
70	Guinea	Equatorial Guinea	14	0
71	Austria	Equatorial Guinea	14	1
72	Togo	Equatorial Guinea	4	1
73	Iceland	Equatorial Guinea	4	2
74	Morocco	Equatorial Guinea	9	3
75	Cape Verde Islands	Central African Republic	9	4
76	Senegal	Equatorial Guinea	19	6
77	Jordan	Equatorial Guinea	7	4
78	Congo	Equatorial Guinea	8	4
78	Scotland	Equatorial Guinea	21	8
80	Canada	Equatorial Guinea	11	6
81	Gabon	Equatorial Guinea	18	7
82	Trinidad and Tobago	Equatorial Guinea	9	1
83	Finland	Equatorial Guinea	15	5
84	FYR Macedonia	Equatorial Guinea	10	3
85	El Salvador	Equatorial Guinea	12	4
86	Congo DR	Equatorial Guinea	6	2
87	Cuba	Equatorial Guinea	3	1
87	New Zealand	Equatorial Guinea	3	1
89	United Arab Emirates	Equatorial Guinea	6	0
90	Armenia	Equatorial Guinea	29	9
91	Uganda	Equatorial Guinea	8	1
92	Estonia	Equatorial Guinea	18	3
93	Angola	Equatorial Guinea	15	2
94	Guatemala	Equatorial Guinea	9	1
95	Dominican Republic	Equatorial Guinea	11	2
96	Georgia	Equatorial Guinea	21	5
97	Iraq	Equatorial Guinea	8	2
98	China PR	Equatorial Guinea	23	6
99	Benin	Equatorial Guinea	17	4
100	Niger	Equatorial Guinea	12	0
101	Qatar	Equatorial Guinea	11	0
102	Oman	Equatorial Guinea	8	1
103	Liberia	Equatorial Guinea	14	2
104	New Caledonia	Equatorial Guinea	8	1
105	Zimbabwe	Equatorial Guinea	17	4
106	Mozambique	Equatorial Guinea	16	5
107	Ethiopia	Equatorial Guinea	9	4
108	Saudi Arabia	Equatorial Guinea	13	5
109	Malawi	Equatorial Guinea	14	6
110	Latvia	Equatorial Guinea	27	9
111	Lithuania	Equatorial Guinea	24	8
112	Tajikistan	Equatorial Guinea	30	9
113	Kuwait	Equatorial Guinea	14	5
113	Suriname	Equatorial Guinea	25	10
115	Korea DPR	Equatorial Guinea	39	14
116	Tanzania	Equatorial Guinea	12	5
117	Bahrain	Equatorial Guinea	11	0
118	Antigua and Barbuda	Equatorial Guinea	24	6
119	Northern Ireland	Equatorial Guinea	29	7
120	Azerbaijan	Equatorial Guinea	25	3
121	Grenada	Equatorial Guinea	74	20
122	Kenya	Equatorial Guinea	16	2
123	Cyprus	Equatorial Guinea	29	6
124	Burundi	Equatorial Guinea	33	7
125	Botswana	Equatorial Guinea	19	5
125	Namibia	Equatorial Guinea	30	6
125	Puerto Rico	Bhutan	-1	-2
128	Guyana	Equatorial Guinea	21	6
129	Lebanon	Equatorial Guinea	12	1
130	Belize	Puerto Rico	11	2
131	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	Puerto Rico	5	1
132	Vietnam	Equatorial Guinea	20	4
133	Turkmenistan	Equatorial Guinea	72	16
134	Sudan	Equatorial Guinea	22	5
135	Tahiti	Equatorial Guinea	15	4
136	Rwanda	Equatorial Guinea	24	7
137	St. Kitts and Nevis	Puerto Rico	40	12
138	Syria	Equatorial Guinea	23	7
139	Moldova	Equatorial Guinea	28	10
140	Afghanistan	American Samoa	25	8
140	St. Lucia	American Samoa	-9	-3
142	Thailand	Equatorial Guinea	20	8
143	Kyrgyzstan	Puerto Rico	39	14
144	Kazakhstan	Equatorial Guinea	32	10
144	Philippines	Equatorial Guinea	13	4
146	Barbados	Puerto Rico	9	0
147	Gambia	Equatorial Guinea	73	22
148	Liechtenstein	Equatorial Guinea	38	12
148	Luxembourg	Puerto Rico	15	2
150	India	Equatorial Guinea	27	6
151	Hong Kong	Equatorial Guinea	21	5
152	Aruba	American Samoa	4	0
153	Palestine	Equatorial Guinea	17	3
154	Bangladesh	American Samoa	7	2
155	Lesotho	Equatorial Guinea	27	5
156	Malta	Equatorial Guinea	32	8
157	Nicaragua	Puerto Rico	22	5
158	Myanmar	American Samoa	2	1
159	Maldives	Puerto Rico	18	7
160	Sao Tome e Principe	Bhutan	26	8
161	Faroe Islands	Equatorial Guinea	66	19
161	Malaysia	Equatorial Guinea	18	7
163	Solomon Islands	Equatorial Guinea	22	11
164	Bermuda	Equatorial Guinea	73	24
165	Singapore	Equatorial Guinea	17	8
166	Chad	Equatorial Guinea	72	22
167	Dominica	American Samoa	26	10
168	Laos	American Samoa	4	0
168	Pakistan	American Samoa	5	0
170	Indonesia	Equatorial Guinea	27	10
171	Nepal	American Samoa	12	3
172	Vanuatu	Equatorial Guinea	73	20
173	Yemen	Equatorial Guinea	23	5
174	Sri Lanka	American Samoa	26	7
175	Mauritania	Equatorial Guinea	73	23
176	Chinese Taipei	American Samoa	9	2
177	Fiji	Equatorial Guinea	72	22
178	Samoa	American Samoa	26	5
179	Bahamas	American Samoa	26	3
179	Guinea-Bissau	Equatorial Guinea	72	14
179	Montserrat	American Samoa	26	3
182	Curacao	American Samoa	26	6
182	Guam	American Samoa	6	3
182	Swaziland	Puerto Rico	39	10
185	Mongolia	American Samoa	26	8
186	Brunei Darussalam	American Samoa	12	1
186	Timor-Leste	American Samoa	25	8
188	Madagascar	Equatorial Guinea	73	21
189	Mauritius	American Samoa	25	11
190	Cambodia	American Samoa	18	5
191	Tonga	American Samoa	26	12
192	Comoros	American Samoa	25	13
193	US Virgin Islands	American Samoa	26	11
194	Papua New Guinea	Puerto Rico	39	16
195	British Virgin Islands	American Samoa	26	9
196	Cayman Islands	American Samoa	26	10
197	American Samoa	Bhutan	26	11
198	Eritrea	Puerto Rico	39	13
199	Seychelles	American Samoa	25	9
200	South Sudan	Equatorial Guinea	73	24
201	Cook Islands	American Samoa	25	9
202	Macau	American Samoa	15	4
202	Somalia	American Samoa	26	9
204	Djibouti	American Samoa	25	9
205	Andorra	American Samoa	12	5
206	Anguilla	American Samoa	26	9
207	Bhutan	American Samoa	26	9
207	San Marino	American Samoa	17	6
207	Turks and Caicos Islands	American Samoa	26	9

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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.