World Cup Teams Ranked #1 to #32

July 13th, 2010 | by: Daryl | View Comments

FIFA has released its post-World Cup rankings, with every team that played in South Africa numbered #1 to #32. According to the BBC, the “rankings take into account group stage results, progress in the competition and the quality of opposition.”

No surprise that Spain and Netherlands are #1 and #2 respectively, with semifinalists making the top four and quarterfinalists making the top eight. The English media seem shocked that England were ranked 13th, their lowest every placing at a World Cup. But after finishing second in what should have been an easy group, and then conceding four goals in the round of 16 game, I’d say England are lucky to be 13th and not 16th.

Final rankings below:

1 Spain, 2 Netherlands, 3 Germany, 4 Uruguay, 5 Argentina, 6 Brazil, 7 Ghana, 8 Paraguay

9 Japan, 10 Chile, 11 Portugal, 12 United States, 13 England, 14 Mexico, 15 South Korea, 16 Slovakia

17 Ivory Coast, 18 Slovenia, 19 Switzerland, 20 South Africa, 21 Australia, 22 New Zealand, 23 Serbia, 24 Denmark

25 Greece, 26 Italy, 27 Nigeria, 28 Algeria, 29 France, 30 Honduras, 31 Cameroon, 32 North Korea

Credit to New Zealand who entered the tournament as potential last place finishers but went home unbeaten (with three draws) and in 22nd place. New Zealand officially had a better World Cup than both of the 2006 finalists as Italy finished 26th and France 30th. Cameroon had the disappointment of their tournament confirmed with 31st place, while North Korea’s three straight defeats (including that 7-0 disaster against Portugal) sees them finish as the worst team from World Cup 2010.

FIFA’s new world rankings (featuring every team in the world, not just World Cup teams) will be released tomorrow. No prizes for guessing which team will be top.