FIFA Rankings
The FIFA Rankings are used as a system to rank all national teams worldwide.
The FIFA Rankings are used as a system to rank all national teams worldwide.
The FIFA rankings are based on the results of the matches every country plays. In 1992 the rankings were introduced. A couple of countries have been in the first spot since. Brazil is the country that has been number one the longest of all. They are currently number one as well.
Other countries that have claimed the top spot are:
FIFA tries to compare national teams reliably. The FIFA rankings are used to rank the progression and abilities of all teams. During the World Cup of 2010, the rankings were used to divide the groups. There have been a lot of discussions since it came out. There are even some alternative rankings from football statisticians.
It isn’t strange that there has been a lot of criticism. Norway reached second place in 1993 because they won a lot versus lower-level opponents. The weight of an opponent wasn’t included in the calculations of the rankings at the time. Even in 2015, criticism remained after a couple of tweaks in the calculation method. When Belgium became number one in 2015, while they had only participated in one international tournament in the 13 years before, there were a lot of question marks again.
As mentioned before, Brazil has been on top for the longest of all countries. And they continued their dominance by reclaiming the number one spot in March 2022. Belgium is in second place now, and Argentina completes the top three. The rest of the top 10 is as follows:
Interesting is that Germany comes in 11th place. The rankings come out in June, August and October.
FIFA hands out annual rewards. The team of the year is awarded to the team that finishes at the top. Then there is also the best mover of the year. It hasn’t been awarded since 2006, while a team is named best mover of the year. This award goes to the team that makes the most progress based on the rankings. This is not simply based on the number of positions one team moves up the rankings. Again, there is a method to weigh the value of the movement because teams at the top are progressing slowly due to the calculations.
FIFA has the FIFA Women’s Rankings as well. The United States is at the top of the FIFA Rankings. Sweden is in second place, and France completes the top three. Germany is number four, while the Netherlands follows in fifth place. The Women’s FIFA Rankings haven’t been diverse. Germany and the United States are the only countries to reach first place. Norway, England, Brazil and Sweden have ranked second for a short while. Furthermore, the United States and Germany were to share first and second place.