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Friday, April 24, 2015

Best and worst teams to play against in May

This is based on (FIFA points for a win) / (actual effort from Elo rating).

I took into account only teams that would bring at least 200 points for a win.

Interesting (for me at least) to see one of the worst teams to play against has scheduled friendlies in May and June against two of the best teams to play against, one of them against the top team in the list below.


Looking to improve your FIFA ranking? Use the e-mail address from my profile to contact me. A word of warning - my services are not for free.

Top 20 best teams to play against after the May FIFA ranking is published:

Northern Ireland
Wales
Greece
Switzerland
Romania
Congo
Tunisia
Austria
Slovakia
Cape Verde Islands
Czech Republic
Equatorial Guinea
Faroe Islands
Algeria
Scotland
Belgium
Iceland
Portugal
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Israel

Worst teams to play against:

Canada
Libya
Kenya
Bahrain
Qatar
Moldova
Jordan
Azerbaijan
Oman
Cuba
Morocco
Bolivia
Niger
Saudi Arabia
Sudan
Lesotho
China PR
Guatemala
FYR Macedonia
Paraguay

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.

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12 comments:

  1. UnknownApril 26, 2015 at 7:43 PM

    Wales have decided not to play a friendly, I'm sure your info that it would negatively affect our rank for the WCQ played a part in this.

    The irony is that it was meant to be against NI who are top of your list but not playing them is even better than playing them. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. nogometApril 30, 2015 at 1:19 PM

      I doubt this is the case. Playing a friendly match would not hurt Wales' chances for Pot 1. They'd still need a win vs Belgium, and that win would be enough for Pot 1 regardless of the friendly result.

      Delete
    2. nogometApril 30, 2015 at 1:25 PM

      Or should I say: "that win would VERY LIKELY be enough for Pot 1...".

      Delete
  2. AnonymousApril 28, 2015 at 9:51 AM

    I'm sure the Wales FA has been following your blog :p

    http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/wales-among-top-seeds-world-9058298

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. EdgarMay 8, 2015 at 7:32 AM

      They have Bale, no need to follow my blog :)

      Delete
  3. AnonymousApril 29, 2015 at 9:30 PM

    Looks like that team that has employed Edgar's services is not so anonymous anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 4, 2015 at 7:04 PM

    Hi Edgar, I was wondering how the initial number of points is established for a new entrant in the ELO Ratings...Could you please shed some light on that? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. EdgarMay 8, 2015 at 7:36 AM

      This is a question for Kirill Bulygin. I think is based on their first result, size of the country and level of football in that country and the neigbouring countries. See Montenegro, Gibraltar and South Sudan.

      Delete
  5. rafaMay 5, 2015 at 9:00 AM

    If Wales had played a friendly with Northern Ireland in June a win would have only secured them 469 points which would lower their 12 month average by 50 points. That could be the difference between becoming a Pot 1 seed or a Pot 2 seed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. nogometMay 5, 2015 at 9:06 AM

      It could have made a difference only if they lost the friendly. But even then the scenario in which they win vs Belgium, lose the friendly and end up in pot 2 is very unlikely.

      Delete
  6. DanielFergusMay 12, 2015 at 3:33 PM

    Meanwhile Scotland arrange a friendly against Qatar, no doubt for a handsome payment. Dearie dearie me.

    ReplyDelete