FIFA Ranking: December 2015 preview

FIFA will publish the ranking on 3 December.

134 games, less than last month, but enough to create a disturbance in the force.

There are 5 teams fighting for the top spot. 

Most points gained (worst case scenario):

77 - Finland
75 - Albania
65 - Cuba
40 - Thailand
35 - Belarus
29 - Nicaragua
16 - Singapore
14 - Sierra Leone
14 - Armenia
13 - Zimbabwe

Most points lost (best case scenario):

-92 - Portugal
-61 - Israel
-60 - Czech Republic
-40 - Scotland
-35 - Guyana
-29 - Malawi
-28 - Faroe Islands
-27 - Bermuda
-24 - Samoa
-24 - Indonesia

The top spot again up for grabs, with 4 teams eyeing Belgium's crown: Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Germany.

Argentina don't depend on the other teams' results and with two wins they will return to No. 1. However, they have to play Brazil at home and Colombia away. Not an easy task.

Based on 10000 simulations (using ClubElo's expected goals formula), Belgium are slight favorites to the top position:

45.97% - Belgium
44.34% - Argentina
6.24% - Chile
1.84% - Colombia
1.61% - Germany

November 2015 rank - Country - November 2015 points - Minimum points - Maximum points

1	Belgium	1440	1362	1475
2	Germany	1388	1294	1413
3	Argentina	1383	1327	1519
4	Portugal	1364	1203	1272
5	Chile	1288	1241	1431
6	Spain	1287	1235	1351
7	Colombia	1233	1171	1416
8	Brazil	1208	1140	1322
9	England	1179	1053	1163
10	Austria	1130	1091	1161
11	Switzerland	1073	993	1101
12	Uruguay	1051	952	1186
13	Italy	1040	972	1087
14	Romania	1039	954	1033
15	Wales	1032	974	1052
16	Netherlands	976	909	1022
17	Czech Republic	974	810	914
18	Turkey	941	886	966
19	Croatia	924	882	958
20	Bosnia and Herzegovina	923	855	1115
21	Ecuador	921	849	1040
22	Côte d'Ivoire	890	853	950
23	Russia	885	837	949
24	France	881	809	924
24	Mexico	881	839	898
26	Algeria	872	799	868
27	Slovakia	857	742	860
28	Ukraine	806	707	909
29	Northern Ireland	797	791	825
30	Ghana	793	755	789
31	Iceland	792	761	851
32	Cape Verde Islands	762	685	805
33	Hungary	759	690	945
33	USA	759	746	815
35	Denmark	743	647	877
36	Albania	723	798	798
37	Greece	718	686	764
38	Poland	712	645	776
39	Senegal	678	611	686
40	Costa Rica	671	648	759
41	Tunisia	668	629	711
42	Republic of Ireland	659	587	921
43	Iran	651	595	653
44	Scotland	649	609	609
45	Sweden	647	623	845
46	Norway	637	591	866
47	Paraguay	610	581	724
48	Korea Republic	606	583	617
49	Serbia	606	591	658
50	Japan	603	569	607
51	Cameroon	597	529	610
52	Congo	593	546	638
53	Guinea	589	546	621
54	Trinidad and Tobago	588	533	693
55	Congo DR	587	548	622
56	Finland	586	663	663
57	Egypt	583	527	643
57	Peru	583	562	747
59	Nigeria	582	487	568
60	Australia	573	528	585
61	Israel	559	498	498
61	Jamaica	559	540	644
63	Mali	552	511	592
64	Slovenia	547	518	801
65	Panama	515	492	604
66	Bulgaria	497	494	494
67	United Arab Emirates	495	497	543
68	Uganda	491	420	550
69	Equatorial Guinea	487	439	557
70	Belarus	479	514	514
71	Uzbekistan	477	422	470
71	Zambia	477	450	498
73	Gabon	470	438	498
73	Haiti	470	467	679
75	South Africa	461	428	487
76	Cyprus	444	441	441
77	Bolivia	442	413	615
78	Montenegro	426	403	426
79	Morocco	422	386	553
80	Antigua and Barbuda	417	409	409
80	Saudi Arabia	417	391	456
82	Jordan	411	390	427
83	Venezuela	408	408	583
84	China PR	403	378	420
85	Qatar	397	381	432
86	Liberia	394	329	613
87	Iraq	392	363	381
88	Togo	386	363	574
89	Faroe Islands	385	357	357
90	Estonia	370	320	369
91	Guatemala	367	338	431
92	Oman	365	333	375
93	Burkina Faso	363	334	429
94	El Salvador	361	328	462
95	Honduras	359	338	454
96	Rwanda	356	338	461
97	Malawi	351	322	322
98	Angola	344	299	458
99	Latvia	342	338	402
100	Nicaragua	341	370	370
101	St. Kitts and Nevis	340	269	332
102	Canada	335	324	420
103	Benin	333	324	597
104	Mauritania	328	297	466
105	Botswana	327	302	426
105	Niger	327	310	483
107	Burundi	321	279	447
108	Cuba	312	377	377
109	Zimbabwe	305	318	318
110	Central African Republic	302	302	302
111	Georgia	301	288	329
112	Aruba	299	298	298
113	Libya	297	279	427
114	Ethiopia	294	293	450
115	Azerbaijan	293	277	296
115	Bahrain	293	278	317
117	Belize	292	273	273
118	Madagascar	290	243	414
118	Namibia	290	268	402
120	Korea DPR	288	294	385
121	Sierra Leone	281	295	295
121	Turkmenistan	281	207	419
123	Lithuania	279	274	274
124	Kyrgyzstan	277	217	452
125	Kenya	274	247	442
125	Mozambique	274	249	384
127	Armenia	271	285	285
128	Sudan	267	259	533
129	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	262	221	368
130	Swaziland	258	242	380
131	Kazakhstan	256	266	266
132	Syria	254	247	276
133	Kuwait	252	229	256
134	South Sudan	246	246	246
135	Tanzania	245	236	406
136	Chad	240	187	415
137	Philippines	236	239	271
138	Palestine	233	211	301
139	FYR Macedonia	230	217	276
140	Lebanon	228	195	239
141	Guinea-Bissau	216	207	207
142	Barbados	206	214	214
143	St. Lucia	204	216	216
144	Thailand	202	242	263
145	Hong Kong	199	179	288
146	Luxembourg	197	188	295
147	Lesotho	193	185	185
147	Vietnam	193	200	200
149	Dominican Republic	187	180	180
150	Curaçao	182	192	192
151	Bermuda	181	154	154
152	Guyana	179	144	144
152	Singapore	179	195	311
154	Moldova	177	172	200
155	Guam	170	162	308
156	Afghanistan	168	162	194
157	São Tomé e Príncipe	165	170	170
158	Malta	164	143	179
159	New Zealand	163	137	192
160	Tajikistan	159	156	196
161	Myanmar	157	150	290
162	Timor-Leste	155	127	306
163	Liechtenstein	154	135	135
164	Samoa	152	128	128
165	American Samoa	144	127	127
166	Maldives	141	150	194
167	Grenada	137	139	139
168	Gambia	135	135	135
169	Cook Islands	132	128	128
170	Puerto Rico	129	120	120
171	Malaysia	127	127	210
172	India	122	97	132
173	Mauritius	117	119	119
174	Indonesia	108	84	84
175	Dominica	104	107	107
176	Laos	90	88	210
177	Comoros	89	75	346
178	US Virgin Islands	88	88	88
179	Yemen	81	79	201
180	Bangladesh	80	78	188
180	Bhutan	80	64	211
180	New Caledonia	80	80	80
183	Cambodia	78	83	174
184	Suriname	77	55	55
185	Pakistan	76	76	76
186	Brunei Darussalam	74	74	74
187	Chinese Taipei	71	78	212
188	Montserrat	67	67	67
189	Seychelles	60	56	56
190	Fiji	60	60	111
191	Tahiti	56	56	56
192	Nepal	51	49	49
193	Cayman Islands	49	43	43
194	Sri Lanka	45	45	45
195	Macau	44	44	72
196	San Marino	35	28	28
197	Turks and Caicos Islands	33	33	33
198	British Virgin Islands	27	27	27
199	Solomon Islands	26	26	26
200	Tonga	17	0	0
201	Vanuatu	13	13	64
202	Eritrea	8	0	0
203	Mongolia	6	6	6
203	Somalia	6	0	0
205	Andorra	5	6	40
206	Papua New Guinea	4	4	4
207	Anguilla	0	0	0
207	Bahamas	0	0	0
207	Djibouti	0	0	0

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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.