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July 12, 2006
SouthAmerica: As I mentioned before on this message board when Brazil was eliminated of the 2006 World Cup â when FIFA calculated the new rankings after the end of the 2006 World Cup â Brazil still would be ranked as number one (1) in the world.
And I was right. It did not matter how FIFA did its rankings in the old way or with the new formula â Brazil is number one under either calculation.
By the way, according to the rankings below it seems to me that this new ranking system is more in line with the countries actual soccer capabilities. The only country I thought should have a better ranking it is Belgium.
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FIFA Media Information â July 6, 2006
Revised FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking
In Berlin today (6 July 2006), three days before the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cupâ¢, FIFA presented the revised FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.
The new method will be applied immediately after this year's FIFA World Cupâ¢, with the first new FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking to be published on 12 July. "We have acknowledged the need for a substantial revision. I am convinced that our experts have come up with a satisfactory solution for a new way of calculating the ranking. We are aware that it is difficult to meet everybody's expectations, but are confident that the new system will provide an accurate measure of the strength of each of our member associations," said Blatter.
Since its introduction in August 1993, the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking has become a regular part of international sports reports and an important indicator for FIFA's 207 member associations to find out where their respective teams stand in world football and how they are progressing.
Nevertheless, the increasingly high profile of the world ranking also attracted some criticism indicating that its calculation formula was too complicated. Therefore, in 2005, under the chairmanship of Michel Platini (France) and Ãngel MarÃa Villar Llona (Spain), the FIFA Technical and Development Committee and the FIFA Football Committee decided to revise the ranking in order to simplify the way in which it is calculated.
A multinational group comprising FIFA staff and external experts was subsequently formed to find a new procedure for drawing up the world ranking. Extensive tests and assessments were then carried out, which - following a number of presentations - reached their conclusion at the end of 2005.
Transparency and simplicity - the key principles guiding the revision - have been combined with sporting criteria and statistical requirements to establish the new and simplified method of calculation that the FIFA Executive Committee ratified at its meeting in Leipzig, Germany, on 7 December 2005.
The most important change to the calculation of the ranking is that it will no longer take into account the last eight years of results but only the last four. At the same time, all of the other factors previously taken into account (result, importance of match, strength of opponents, regional strength, number of matches considered) were tested, analysed and, in some cases, totally revised. In fact, two of the factors that were previously used (goals scored and home advantage) will no longer have any impact on the ranking.
Next year, the official website of the football's world governing body, FIFA.com, will also offer an online tool that will make it possible to carry out hypothetical calculations for all teams based on the consolidated database of FIFA's Information Services Department.
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Here is the latest FIFA rakings as of July 12, 2006
Rank â Country - # of points as of July 12, 2006
1 - Brazil - # 1630
2 - Italy - # 1550
3 - Argentina - # 1472
4 - France - # 1462
5 - England - # 1434
6 - Netherlands - #1322
7 - Spain - # 1309
8 - Portugal - # 1301
9 - Germany - # 1229
10 - Czech Republic - # 1223
11 - Nigeria - # 1149
12 - Cameroon - # 1109
13 - Switzerland - # 1028
14 - Uruguay - # 985
15 - Ukraine - # 961
16 - USA - # 933
17 - Denmark - # 927
18 - Mexico - # 924
19 - Paraguay - # 915
20 - Côte d'Ivoire - # 909
21 - Colombia - # 902
22 - Sweden - # 886
23 - Croatia - # 854
24 - Guinea - # 850
25 - Ghana - # 839
26 - Romania - # 834
27 - Turkey - # 824
28 - Ecuador 821
29 - Egypt - # 819
30 - Poland - # 809
31 - Tunisia - # 805
32 - Greece - # 780
33 - Australia - # 738
34 - Russia - # 733
35 - Senegal - # 726
36 - Serbia and Montenegro - # 724
37 - Bulgaria - # 716
38 - Honduras - # 695
39 - Republic of Ireland - # 694
40 - Morocco - # 681
41 - Scotland - # 677
42 - Peru - # 661
43 - Bosnia-Herzegovina - # 660
44 - Slovakia - # 659
45 - Costa Rica - # 636
46 - Chile - # 630
47 - Iran - # 624
48 - Togo - # 622
49 - Japan - # 615
50 - Uzbekistan - # 606
51 - Israel - # 605
52 - Norway - # 604
53 - Guatemala - # 587
54 - Canada - # 567
55 - Angola - # 564
56 - Korea Republic - # 557
57 - Belgium - # 555
58 - Wales - # 547
59 - Panama - # 522
60 - Austria - # 506
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)) were better , but how can you leave him out?
and it was one hell of a head butt. Did the italian player flop as they all do when someone is near or do you think zouzou hit him with force?? maybe FIFA can also find this out...Thank God Football is around the corner...go FINS