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The Alternative FIFA World Rankings

As a long-time admirer of the brand of football that generation after generation of Dutch footballers exhibit, it was of great satisfaction to me that the Netherlands finally reached the coveted top spot in The FIFA World Rankings. The peculiar thing was however, that they did so not only without winning any trophy or championship, but by not playing a game at all. Their elevation to the summit of the rankings came through European and World Champions Spain losing a friendly match with rivals Italy and thus being deducted vital ranking points. This turn of events got me thinking that perhaps FIFA need to reassess the way in which they calculate their World Rankings.

 

An interesting twist on their conventional (or unconventional method depending on your view) might be to award countries a ranking depending on how well their national team performs bearing in mind the size of the pool of players they have to select from (i.e. the population of that country). The current FIFA World Rankings top 10 looks like this…

 

1^st           Netherlands   ( 1596 points )

2^nd          Spain   ( 1563 points )

3^rd           Germany   ( 1330 points )

4^th           England   ( 1177 points )

5^th           Uruguay   ( 1174 points )

6^th           Brazil   ( 1156 points )

7^th           Italy   ( 1110 points )

8^th           Portugal   ( 1060 points )

9^th           Argentina   ( 1017 points )

10^th         Croatia   ( 1009 points )

 

If you were to take into consideration the resources that each of these footballing powerhouses has at their disposal, the top 10 would look more like this…

 

1^st           Uruguay   ( 1174 points ÷ 3.4 million population = 350 points )

2^nd          Croatia   ( 1009 points ÷ 4.3 million = 235 points )

3^rd           Portugal   ( 1060 points ÷ 10.6 million = 100 points )

4^th           Netherlands   ( 1596 points ÷ 16.7 million = 96 points )

5^th           Spain   ( 1563 points ÷ 46.1 million = 34 points )

6^th           Argentina   ( 1017 points ÷ 43.2 million = 24 points )

7^th           England   ( 1177 points ÷ 51.4 million = 23 points )

8^th           Italy   ( 1110 points ÷ 60.6 million = 18 points )

9^th           Germany   ( 1330 points ÷ 81.8 million = 16 points )

10^th         Brazil   ( 1156 points ÷ 190.7 million = 6 points )

 

In only applying this alternative ranking method to the current top 10 ranked nations in the FIFA World Rankings there isn’t too much of an upset in order. It is interesting to see just how much nations like Uruguay and Croatia are punching above their weight in competing with the other traditionally powerful footballing nations in the upper echelons of world football. When you apply the same ranking calculation to the other nations making up the top 50 of the current FIFA World Rankings there are some much bigger surprises. The alternative rankings system would see the top 10 look more like this…

 

1^st           Montenegro   ( 875 points ÷ 0.6 million population = 1399 points )

2^nd          Slovenia   ( 816 points ÷ 2.1 million = 397 points )

3^rd           Uruguay   ( 1174 points ÷ 3.4 million = 350 points )

4^th           Croatia   ( 1009 points ÷ 4.3 million = 235 points )

5^th           Jamaica   ( 623 points ÷ 2.7 million = 230 points )

6^th           Norway   ( 943 points ÷ 5.0 million = 190 points )

7^th           Bosnia-Herzegovina   ( 656 points ÷ 3.8 million= 171 points )

8^th           Republic of Ireland   ( 754 points ÷ 4.6 million = 165 points )

9^th           Denmark   ( 841 points ÷ 5.6 million = 151 points )

10^th         Slovakia   ( 806 points ÷ 5.4 million = 148 points )

 

There are some obvious anomalies in this particular version of the top 10 but it is very interesting to see that both Uruguay and Croatia are still at the top of the list. Just goes to show that these two nations more than anyone else are punching well above their weight on the international scene, and in my opinion, after their recent triumph at the Copa America, perhaps it should be the South American outfit that deserve to sit at the top of FIFA’s elite list at the moment.

 

Let me know your thoughts…