September 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 September 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 Faroe Islands (118), followed by Albania (47) and Bhutan (31).



Of the top 20 teams, 9 would have gained points: Belgium, Germany, Colombia, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland and Uruguay. Of these 9, only Colombia and Brazil wouldn't have climbed.

England would have lost points with a friendly against Wales, but would have climbed in the rankings, as their opponent would have dropped.

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

19 - Benin
17 - Libya
9 - FYR Macedonia

The recommended  opponent for all three: Faroe Islands.

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

4 - Bosnia-Herzegovina, Venezuela, Nigeria

The recommended opponent for all three: Albania.

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

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

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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.