May 2015: 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 May 2015 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 Equatorial Guinea (62), followed by Northern Ireland (50) and American Samoa (31). Wales were close behind (28).



Of the top 20 teams, 4 would have gained points: Spain, Italy, Chile and Croatia, but only Spain and Italy would have climbed 1 spot.

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

19 - Namibia
17 - Libya
11 - Bolivia

Equatorial Guinea would have been the recommended opponent for Namibia and Libya, while Bolivia would have benefited from a friendly against Northern Ireland.

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

5 - Slovenia
4 - Egypt
3 - Nigeria, Serbia and Turkey

The recommended opponent for Serbia were Wales. The other teams should have played Northern Ireland.

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

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

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