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Last FIFA Rankings Before World Cup

   

Today we get one last chance to look and laugh at FIFA’s world rankings before the World Cup. There is no change at the top with Brazil, Czech Republic and Netherlands firmly ensconced in the top three spots. At the bottom, American Samoa still hasn’t gotten its act together and remains in 205th place. The most overrated team this time is Mexico, ranked fourth. The most underrated is Serbia and Montenegro, ranked 44th. After the World Cup, FIFA will base its rankings on the past four years instead of the last eight, which should make things a wee bit more relevant, but will unlikely improve American Samoa’s position since they haven’t won in decades.

Here are the listings for all the World Cup teams:

1 Brazil
2 Czech Republic
3 Netherlands
4 Mexico
5 USA
5 Spain
7 Portugal
8 France
9 Argentina
10 England
13 Italy
16 Sweden
18 Japan
19 Germany
21 Tunisia
23 Iran
23 Croatia
26 Costa Rica
29 Poland
29 Korea Republic
32 Côte d’Ivoire
33 Paraguay
34 Saudi Arabia
35 Switzerland
39 Ecuador
42 Australia
44 Serbia and Montenegro
45 Ukraine
47 Trinidad and Tobago
48 Ghana
57 Angola
61 Togo

Complete list


  • Razzle

    Here we go again. Mexico over USA. When will this ever end. I’m taking FIFA to the international court in the Hague.

  • Wil

    Mexico has played more matches than USA with better rivals lately. Also the performance of both teams in the Concacaf Final Round was the same. They got 22 points. I cannot understand why people get mad about Mexico over USA.

    Traditionally, Mexico has been much better than USA. Don’t get me wrong, I recognize USA is a good team but I don’t see USA better than Mexico. The level between USA and Mexico are pretty similar.

    Let’s wait for the World Cup and the changes in the ranking.

  • chris

    The jockeying between USA and Mexico isn’t a big deal, it’s the fact that they’re ranked in the top 10 above stronger teams. Italy is considered a legitimate team to win the World Cup but can’t break the top ten rankings. The USA can’t beat, and barely looked capable of beating Jamaica at home (I know, I know, with an understrength team) and they are consistently in the top 5.

  • Jonathan

    yawn….

  • http://fo.reca.st/wm.php Grigori

    If I analyze the so called “forecast field” at http://fo.reca.st, the ranking is pretty different:

    1. Brazil
    2-3. Germany and England
    4-6. Argentina Italy France Portugal

    Ok, the FIFA people know the stuff besser as http://fo.reca.st users :-)

  • rescorpione17

    ..in a world where the best rapper is white ,best golfer black, Switzerland won America’s Cup…well it is possible to have Usa ranked 5th and Italy 13th let’s wait for more to come who knows i love the way things develop sometimes .By the way does anyone know if the are rankings based on who you have met ?the one that NYTimes has for footballseasons..?

  • Louie

    Why is it that Mexico is that high… Oh yes.. People are realizing that they have a good team. And US fans (wich i’m am) you know that Mexico falls under pressure with us. We will beat Mexico 6 out of 10 times. Now that does not mean that we are a better team than they are. Mexico is way better than the US. they play scared againts the US. If they loose, it hurts them more, Mexico’s fans will ridicule them for months. If they win, no heads are turned….

    Anyway, the world is getting to know the mexicans. expect mexico to turn some heads. Croatia 98 = mexico 06
    GO USA..

  • Razzle

    In the last 5 years USA and Mexico played 10 matches.
    USA won 7
    Mexico won 2
    One was a draw.

    So on recent form Mexico gets its butt kicked.

    I dont know what Sepp Blatter is smoking when he comes up with those rankings but I’d like some of it. Seems to be quite effective.

    And yeah – there are far superior footballing powers lingering outside the top 10.

    Argentina and Italy need to be way up there. The rankings give too much weight to the number of friendlies played as opposed to the quality of the opposition in a friendly. Thats why the World Cup is the great equalizer. We’ll know which the true powers really are.

  • matt

    1. FIFA Rankings are not to be trusted. It seems they are pulled out of thin air.
    2. Neither Mexico Or The USA should be in the top 10. Top 20, yes, but not top 10.
    3. Wil. The perfomance was not the same. They did indeed tie in terms of qualification points, but the USA did win the group based on Head to Head matches. (goals)
    4. Louie, I respectfully disagree. Yes the US would win 6 of 10, but it would not be because of Mexico’s Nerves. It would be because the USA has a better Team Concept and is therefore a better team. (also, Arena>Lavolpe)
    5.If the USA is the #58th team in the World, then Mexico is #59.

  • Louie

    i will be willing to bet money that Mexico will beat teams that the Us can’t. therefore go deeper in the WC. I can never see the us (current team) Beat teams like Brazil (confederations cup mexico won) or argentina. it’s a little tricky to say. I know the Us can beat Mexico, (well actually the current teams did not face off. When the Us beat mexico the last time, mexico did not have the team now. They slpit this year in the prelims) but we (Us) choke with europe. I hope we go far. I hope we Win. but i still think Mexico is a better team (againts others) therefore my argument stands.
    The mexicans cant win againts their big brothers they are scared because if they do.. bye bye imigration reform.

  • Louie

    Oh and one more thing..

    To Grigori..
    yea right buddy. Germany will be a joke. they are going to have poblems againts poland, and watch out for the first game. Cost rica is a astrong team..
    but 2nd, i hope it’s just because you are german.
    i say not even top 20

  • Lucky Lou

    I agree with the following teams in the top ten:
    Brazil, Czech Republic, Portugal, France, Argentina and England (not in that order)
    Notable misses Italy, possibly Sweden and depending what Germany is the real Germany maybe them… Other than that sorry the rest are just the benefit of quirky ranking systems…

  • steve

    louie this is a soccer blog, therefor imigration? germany will be a joke? Can someone not allow people that are idiodic and childish not talk…
    thanx

  • http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2006/big-question-which-current-coach-was-the-best-player.html#comments Pedro P

    Loved seeing Portugal going from 8 to 7. Funny thing is, we didn’t play a single match in between… :-)

  • Rescorpione17

    so after the world cup Argentina,Italy,England and Spain will be top four..but i believe Usa could still make top ten..Ukraine Sweden will bw making top ten as well…

  • http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2006/big-question-which-current-coach-was-the-best-player.html#comments Pedro P

    OK, Rescorpione17, count Brazil in and there’s only 2 other places in the top 10. Who would they be, in your opinion…?

  • Wil

    Matt: The performance was the same. They got 22 points. USA did not get more points. Mexico has a better goal average. The difference was the goals beteween them (2-3) but you cannot say that USA is much better than Mexico just for that reason. I would accept your argument if USA has gotten 23 and Mexico 22 but that did not happened. They both got 22.

    Louie: I totally agree with your opinion.

    I think Mexico and USA can be in the top 10. Usually, people just consider Europe and South America but Mexico, USA and other countries are increasing their levels.

    I think USA has been better than Mexico lately in their matches between them. However, I still think Mexico is a little bit better than USA. We just need to see Mexico in The Confederation Cups or other tournaments but let’s see what happens in this World Cup…

  • https://admin.worldcupblog.org/www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2006/top-10-most-attractive-world-cup-teams-for-corporate-sponsors.html Top 10 Most Attractive World Cup Teams for Corporate Sponsors – FIFA World Cup 2006 – World Cup 2006 Blog

    [...] Between FIFA’s rankings and the World Cup Blog Power Rankings, it seems like we can’t go a day without seeing the various World Cup teams listed from top to bottom. Today, we get to take a look at another list of rankings. This one shows the ten teams that are most attractive to corporate sponsors. You probably can guess the top ranked team since they are number one in all the rankings and you can’t go a second without seeing them in a Nike commercial. But the rest of the list is fairly interesting. [...]

  • Louie

    hey STEVE, i got an idea, If i’m so childish and idiotic then you can email me and tell me about it when Mexico beats France OK..

    plus little buddy!!
    you said
    “Can someone not allow people that are idiodic and childish not talk…”
    way to use the double negative..
    i guess you want people to let me talk..
    WAY TO GO…

  • raha

    IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN IRAN

  • rescorpione17

    for Pedro P i would say Cech Republic ?..also i assume you may want to know if Holland in my opinion could be in the top ten ?i would say yes if they make it through the first stage ..that group is such a mess that i wouldn’t bet on anything it is just a mine field and Holland could win it or in a series of unfortunate events get the last spot..on that note i don’t really know what Van Basten is up to, some times i felt he was kind of lost but ..maybe he is just the smartest around ahead of all of us so ..let’s go and see the cards..i would reserv the last spot for the host because with all the bad things they did wrong in the past few months you wonder when all of that is going to stop ..my fear is that Germany will be ready at right time as usual…….

  • http://www.aresthetics.ch/trav Adrian Wagner

    I think this discussion could be solved fairly easy: merge the South American and North American (Central/North) into one qualifying group. Both teams stand too high in their ranking simply because they play so many games in their qualifying stages against seriously avarage teams that they MUST accumulate a lot of points for the ranking. In this qualifying group it ALWAYS USA and Mexico qualifying. I say: one big ‘Americas’ group with 7 qualifying.

    Personally, I think Mexico will be surprisingly strong this year. Yeah, they just lost against France (before 80′000 French) 1-0, but completely dominated them in the last 20 minutes. Let them get into form and they’ll the surprise team of the cup.
    Adrian

  • Vikingo

    Netherlands- Mexico 2-1!
    B team Holland beat A team Mexico!!
    Historically Mexico is better then USA. Nowadays it is al about money, and then USA is stronger, but this has nothing to do with talent in sport.
    Lets hope for surprises, especially from the african nations!
    Hup Holland Hup

  • mike752

    USA are just up-themselves. That’s why they are always upset.

  • Dream

    From Vikingo: “Historically Mexico is better than USA”.

    Exactly what history? The last 10 matches USA has won 7 lost 2 and tied one! So what history are you refering to? Ancient history? Maybe the history where California was sold to the USA like a bag of oranges on the freeway offramp.

  • louie

    Wow dream .. you really have a point.. HISTORY MEANS MORE THAN JUST 10 YEARS DUMBASS….

    Dream, maybe you should get off that racist chair you linger on, and come into reality..

    Mexico is better than the US right now.. Everyone knows it..
    sure they Lost the last game, but they will go deeper in the wc.

    Good luck to the US team..
    And DREAM, when and If the US wins a game, go a head and try to and celebrate with the rest of your country that will be looking at you like a crazy fool..
    because they wont give a crap about the game of soccer..

    Maybe you can celebrate when mexico wins IN LA, because you know that they wil hit the streets.. All of you gringos will have a cow when Mex wins a game….

  • Joanna

    Seriously, you have to ask, why the game of football is turned into a huge political fight. It’s amazing.. it’s a game… a beautiful game, but just a game.

    The US has every chance of being a good side.. they have a more money than just about any other nation, they are sports fanatics and the population of immigrants means they have huge numbers of athletes, with all the money in the world, and ethnic backgrounds from which they can find football lovers who watch and know the game as it’s played throughout the world. Sriously, if the US didn’t manage to put together a great team over time, you’d have to wonder.

    I also think, after yesterdays game, weird as it was, that it was refreshing to see a team who don’t play the cynical diving game all the time and were as fit as F*ck too! Seriously, 9 men playing the whole field!!! They must have been exhausted, but kept trying right up to the end. Well done USA. In my opinion the “Elbow” incident was no less than assault. Totally disgusting. I love Italy, but that just turned my stomach. I am proud to say the days of the “English” Hooligan problem are over, do we really need that on the field now?

  • Nik

    you guys, are must be kidding. Mexico is a much better side than the USA. USA is actually by far the most overrated team on the rankings, evidenced by their performance which was hopeless. You can talk about how good they are before they actually have to perform, but not any more. Maybe in 4 years, you might have chance boys.

  • Louie

    OK, So I will be the first to say ..

    MEXICO IS BETTER THAN THE US.

    see i told you so..

    read all of my post on this BLOG.

    The US can beat mexico, 9 times out of 10, but Mexico will always do better in the world cup..

    SO, that’s why we are always going to be better…

  • timaah

    USA number five??? did somebody say Coca-Cola??? Does anyone outside of Mexico or USA care who is the better of these two teams? (Mexico is of course). Neither can seriously say that they are in the top twenty in the world. The Coca-cola (FIFA) advertising rankings are a farce as are the number of world cup spots the abysmal CONCACAF federation receive. three of their four teams went out first round and the other (Mexico) went out secound round. CONCACAF deserve 1 1/2 spots, no more.

  • chris

    I say we take the place off the north American’s and give it to the New Zealanders :)

  • Judy Lavat

    I think Mexico is a great team but why is Mexico in 26 in fifa.com in here is in the 4th place. Mexico is way better then the US but i think Mexico can play better just that they play when they feel like it because they always play better with harder teams and play bad with teams that suck like central America Honduras, Costa Rica and with the US they play bad also when they can play better like the way they play when they play the US.

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