October 2014: 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 September 2014 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 and their recommended opponent.


After Sierra Leone's drop of 25 places, the most popular opponent for the month of September were Wales (50), closely followed by Congo (47) and Antigua and Barbuda (37).


Of the top 20 teams, 6 would have gained points: Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Ukraine, England, with Switzerland and England even climbing in the rankings.

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

19 - Haiti
18 - Venezuela
16 - Bolivia

Congo would have been the recommended opponent for Haiti and Bolivia, while Venezuela would have benefited from a friendly against Wales.

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

11 - Togo
9 - Bulgaria
7 - Serbia

Congo were the choice for Togo, while Wales were the recommended opponent for the two Slavic countries. Remarkably, Togo would have climbed a total of 84 spots in total.

Looking to improve your FIFA ranking? Use the e-mail address from my profile to contact me.

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

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

 

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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.