June 2013: Recommended friendly impact

The best opponent to play against is determined using a combination of Elo ratings and FIFA rankings. Let's look at the June 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 May is Equatorial Guinea - the best opponent for no less than 99 teams.

Of the top 15 teams, only Netherlands and England would have benefited from an extra friendly - both gaining 2 points. England would have climbed one spot.




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

14 - Senegal
13 - Equatorial Guinea
9 - Finland, China PR and Georgia

Recommended team for Senegal and Georgia: Equatorial Guinea. Finland and China PR should have played against Albania, while Equatorial Guinea should have played against Central African Republic.

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

3 - Paraguay
2 - Uruguay, Brazil and Sweden

Recommended team for Paraguay and Uruguay - Albania, for Brazil - Greece and for Sweden - Montenegro.

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

 

1	Spain	Greece	-22	0
2	Germany	Greece	-12	0
3	Argentina	Greece	-11	0
4	Croatia	Montenegro	-16	0
5	Netherlands	Greece	2	0
6	Portugal	Montenegro	-7	0
7	Colombia	Montenegro	-16	0
8	Italy	Montenegro	-6	-1
9	England	Greece	2	1
10	Ecuador	Montenegro	-20	-1
11	Russia	Montenegro	-5	0
12	Belgium	Albania	-25	-1
13	Côte d'Ivoire	Albania	-7	0
14	Switzerland	Montenegro	-8	-2
15	Bosnia-Herzegovina	Albania	-19	-1
16	Greece	Albania	-4	0
17	Mexico	Montenegro	1	0
18	France	Albania	2	0
19	Uruguay	Albania	18	2
20	Denmark	Albania	6	0
21	Ghana	Albania	-1	0
22	Brazil	Greece	18	2
23	Mali	Albania	-10	0
24	Czech Republic	Albania	0	0
25	Chile	Albania	12	1
25	Montenegro	Albania	-7	-1
27	Sweden	Montenegro	11	2
28	USA	Albania	2	0
29	Norway	Algeria	9	1
30	Peru	Albania	4	1
31	Nigeria	Albania	-6	0
32	Japan	Albania	7	0
33	Hungary	Albania	6	1
34	Romania	Albania	2	0
35	Algeria	Equatorial Guinea	0	0
36	Serbia	Albania	9	0
37	Venezuela	Albania	6	0
38	Albania	Equatorial Guinea	-8	-1
39	Ukraine	Albania	3	1
40	Korea Republic	Albania	15	0
41	Republic of Ireland	Albania	17	1
42	Tunisia	Albania	5	0
43	Panama	Albania	5	1
44	Paraguay	Albania	21	3
45	Wales	Equatorial Guinea	9	1
46	Bulgaria	Albania	2	0
47	Australia	Albania	16	1
48	Costa Rica	Albania	4	1
49	Jamaica	Equatorial Guinea	2	0
49	Zambia	Equatorial Guinea	6	0
51	Burkina Faso	Equatorial Guinea	-3	0
52	Honduras	Albania	8	0
53	Bolivia	Albania	2	0
54	Turkey	Albania	23	3
55	Slovenia	Equatorial Guinea	21	3
56	Slovakia	Equatorial Guinea	15	3
57	New Zealand	Albania	10	0
58	Uzbekistan	Albania	11	1
59	Central African Republic	Equatorial Guinea	3	0
60	South Africa	Equatorial Guinea	4	1
61	Iceland	Equatorial Guinea	-5	-2
62	Israel	Albania	12	5
63	Haiti	Equatorial Guinea	6	4
64	Equatorial Guinea	Central African Republic	71	13
65	Cameroon	Albania	17	1
65	Poland	Albania	15	1
67	Belarus	Albania	21	3
67	Iran	Albania	17	3
69	Libya	Equatorial Guinea	15	2
70	Sierra Leone	Central African Republic	15	3
71	Egypt	Albania	19	4
72	Cape Verde Islands	Central African Republic	7	1
73	Togo	Equatorial Guinea	2	0
74	Scotland	Albania	29	7
75	Jordan	Equatorial Guinea	6	0
76	Austria	Albania	27	5
77	Morocco	Equatorial Guinea	9	2
78	FYR Macedonia	Equatorial Guinea	9	2
79	Congo DR	Equatorial Guinea	3	0
80	Congo	Equatorial Guinea	17	4
81	Trinidad and Tobago	Equatorial Guinea	8	2
82	Gabon	Equatorial Guinea	19	5
83	Canada	Equatorial Guinea	12	4
84	Finland	Albania	27	8
85	Guinea	Equatorial Guinea	23	7
86	El Salvador	Equatorial Guinea	13	2
87	United Arab Emirates	Albania	11	1
88	Guatemala	Equatorial Guinea	9	0
89	Armenia	Equatorial Guinea	35	6
89	Estonia	Equatorial Guinea	22	3
91	Angola	Equatorial Guinea	19	4
91	Cuba	Equatorial Guinea	3	2
93	Uganda	Equatorial Guinea	8	4
94	Dominican Republic	Equatorial Guinea	10	3
95	China PR	Albania	32	8
96	Georgia	Equatorial Guinea	21	8
97	New Caledonia	Equatorial Guinea	8	0
98	Iraq	Equatorial Guinea	8	1
99	Senegal	Equatorial Guinea	72	14
100	Liberia	Equatorial Guinea	11	1
101	Oman	Equatorial Guinea	7	1
102	Zimbabwe	Equatorial Guinea	16	3
103	Mozambique	Equatorial Guinea	15	3
104	Qatar	Equatorial Guinea	12	2
105	Lithuania	Equatorial Guinea	25	4
106	Ethiopia	Equatorial Guinea	8	1
107	Niger	Equatorial Guinea	20	3
108	Saudi Arabia	Equatorial Guinea	13	3
109	Malawi	Equatorial Guinea	15	4
109	Tanzania	Equatorial Guinea	10	2
111	Kuwait	Equatorial Guinea	13	5
112	Tajikistan	Equatorial Guinea	29	8
113	Suriname	Equatorial Guinea	25	8
114	Korea DPR	Albania	51	14
115	Benin	Equatorial Guinea	72	18
116	Northern Ireland	Equatorial Guinea	29	11
117	Bahrain	Equatorial Guinea	10	0
118	Azerbaijan	Equatorial Guinea	25	7
119	Latvia	Equatorial Guinea	32	10
120	Namibia	Equatorial Guinea	28	6
121	Antigua and Barbuda	Equatorial Guinea	24	5
122	Cyprus	Equatorial Guinea	28	5
123	Kenya	Equatorial Guinea	16	3
124	Grenada	Equatorial Guinea	72	20
125	Burundi	Equatorial Guinea	32	6
126	Guyana	Equatorial Guinea	22	4
127	Botswana	Equatorial Guinea	22	3
128	Puerto Rico	Bhutan	26	4
129	Belize	Equatorial Guinea	35	7
130	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	Puerto Rico	5	2
131	Lebanon	Equatorial Guinea	12	4
132	Turkmenistan	Equatorial Guinea	71	15
133	Vietnam	Equatorial Guinea	20	7
134	Moldova	Equatorial Guinea	31	9
135	Rwanda	Equatorial Guinea	27	9
135	Sudan	Equatorial Guinea	20	7
137	St. Kitts and Nevis	Equatorial Guinea	73	19
138	Syria	Equatorial Guinea	23	8
138	Tahiti	Equatorial Guinea	26	10
140	Afghanistan	American Samoa	25	9
140	St. Lucia	American Samoa	-9	-4
142	Thailand	Equatorial Guinea	20	7
143	Kyrgyzstan	Equatorial Guinea	72	21
144	Philippines	Equatorial Guinea	14	6
145	Luxembourg	Equatorial Guinea	33	8
146	Kazakhstan	Equatorial Guinea	38	9
147	Hong Kong	Equatorial Guinea	23	2
147	India	Equatorial Guinea	26	3
149	Barbados	Puerto Rico	9	3
150	Aruba	American Samoa	4	0
151	Palestine	Equatorial Guinea	18	5
152	Bangladesh	American Samoa	7	2
153	Lesotho	Equatorial Guinea	29	7
154	Chad	Equatorial Guinea	71	17
155	Myanmar	American Samoa	2	0
156	Malta	Equatorial Guinea	38	11
157	Maldives	Puerto Rico	18	7
158	Liechtenstein	Equatorial Guinea	38	12
159	Malaysia	Equatorial Guinea	18	8
159	Sao Tome e Principe	Bhutan	26	9
161	Bermuda	Equatorial Guinea	72	21
162	Faroe Islands	Equatorial Guinea	65	18
162	Gambia	Equatorial Guinea	71	20
162	Nicaragua	Puerto Rico	40	15
165	Singapore	Equatorial Guinea	17	10
166	Solomon Islands	Equatorial Guinea	27	13
167	Dominica	American Samoa	26	12
168	Laos	American Samoa	4	0
168	Pakistan	American Samoa	5	0
170	Indonesia	Equatorial Guinea	29	12
171	Nepal	American Samoa	12	3
172	Sri Lanka	American Samoa	26	5
173	Yemen	Equatorial Guinea	22	5
174	Mauritania	Equatorial Guinea	72	24
175	Chinese Taipei	American Samoa	9	3
176	Bahamas	American Samoa	26	1
176	Montserrat	American Samoa	26	1
178	Curacao	American Samoa	26	3
178	Guam	American Samoa	6	2
178	Swaziland	Puerto Rico	39	6
181	Guinea-Bissau	Equatorial Guinea	71	15
182	Fiji	Equatorial Guinea	71	16
182	Mongolia	American Samoa	26	6
184	Madagascar	Equatorial Guinea	71	17
185	Brunei Darussalam	American Samoa	12	4
185	Mauritius	American Samoa	26	9
185	Timor-Leste	American Samoa	25	9
188	Samoa	American Samoa	26	12
189	Cambodia	American Samoa	18	8
190	Tonga	American Samoa	26	14
191	Vanuatu	Equatorial Guinea	71	20
192	Comoros	American Samoa	25	16
193	US Virgin Islands	American Samoa	26	15
194	Papua New Guinea	Puerto Rico	39	18
195	British Virgin Islands	American Samoa	26	11
196	Cayman Islands	American Samoa	26	12
197	American Samoa	Bhutan	26	13
198	Eritrea	Equatorial Guinea	72	25
199	Seychelles	American Samoa	25	11
200	South Sudan	Equatorial Guinea	72	25
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	15	6
206	Anguilla	American Samoa	26	9
207	Bhutan	American Samoa	26	9
207	San Marino	American Samoa	15	5
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.