December 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 December 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.

The most popular opponent were again Northern Ireland (70), followed by Antigua and Barbuda (59) and American Samoa (29).


Of the top 20 teams, 3 would have gained points: Spain, Croatia and Mexico, but only Croatia would have climbed 1 spot.

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

19 - Faroe Islands
16 - Liberia
15 - Canada

Antigua and Barbuda would have been the recommended opponent for the Faroe Islands and Liberia, while Canada would have benefited from a friendly against Northern Ireland.

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

3 - Ecuador and Peru
2 - Ukraine, Slovenia, Mali, South Africa

The recommended opponent for Ecuador were Greece, with Wales being the top choice for Ukraine. The other teams should have played Northern Ireland.

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

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