FIFA World Rankings
| Top 20 Rankings as of 26 October 2023[1] | |||
| Rank | Change | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steady | 22x20px Argentina | 1861 |
| 2 | Steady | 22x20px France | 1853 |
| 3 | Steady | 22x20px Brazil | 1812 |
| 4 | Steady | File:Flag of England.svg England | 1808 |
| 5 | Steady | 22x20px Belgium | 1794 |
| 6 | Steady | 22x20px Portugal | 1740 |
| 7 | Steady | 22x20px Netherlands | 1739 |
| 8 | Steady | File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain | 1726 |
| 9 | Steady | 22x20px Italy | 1718 |
| 10 | Steady | 22x20px Croatia | 1712 |
| 11 | Steady | 22x20px United States | 1676 |
| 12 | Steady |  Mexico |
1664 |
| 13 | Steady | 22x20px Morocco | 1658 |
| 14 | Steady | File:Flag of Switzerland.svg Switzerland | 1645 |
| 15 | Steady |  Uruguay |
1644 |
| 16 | Steady | 22x20px Germany | 1643 |
| 17 | Steady | 22x20px Colombia | 1627 |
| 18 | Steady | 22x20px Japan | 1613 |
| 19 | Steady | 22x20px Denmark | 1612 |
| 20 | Steady | 22x20px Senegal | 1601 |
The FIFA World Rankings is a ranking of men's football teams selected by FIFA. Currently, the team ranked #1 is Belgium. The rankings were first made in 1993. The first team to receive first place was Germany.
FIFA's list was updated on February 15, 2024; An update is expected again, on April 04.[2]
A points system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of all FIFA-recognized full international matches.
FIFA announced in June 2018 that the ranking system would be updated following the 2018 World Cup. The calculation method to be adopted will be closely modeled after the Elo rating system and rankings of its member associations will be updated on a game-by-game basis. The weighting designated for each confederation for ranking purposes was removed.[3] However, the new method does not account for home or away games and margin of the victory, unlike the Elo rankings.[4] This produced a more altered ranking table, with Germany falling to 15th and 2018 World Cup champions France moving to the top of the ranking.[5][6]
Men's rank leaders
When the system was created, Germany began as the top-ranked team following their dominant period in which they had reached the three previous FIFA World Cup finals, winning one of them. Brazil took the lead in the run up to the 1994 FIFA World Cup after winning eight and losing only one of nine qualification matches, while on the way scoring twenty goals and conceding just four. Italy then led for a short time on the back of their own equally successful World Cup qualifying campaign, after which the top place was re-claimed by Germany.
Brazil's success in their 1993 qualifying campaign returned them to the lead for a brief period. Germany led again during the 1994 World Cup, until Brazil's victory in that competition gave them a large lead that would stand up for nearly seven years, until they were surpassed by a strong France team that captured both the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2000 UEFA Euro.
Success at the 2002 FIFA World Cup restored Brazil to the top position, where they remained until February 2007, when Italy returned to the top for the first time since 1993 following their 2006 FIFA World Cup win in Germany. Just one month later, Argentina replaced them, reaching the top for the first time, but Italy regained its place in April. After winning the Copa América 2007 in July, Brazil returned to the top, but were replaced by Italy in September and then Argentina in October.
In July 2008, Spain took over the lead for the first time, having won UEFA Euro 2008. Brazil began a sixth stint at the top of the rankings in July 2009 after winning the 2009 Confederations Cup, and Spain regained the title in November 2009 after winning every match in qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
In April 2010, Brazil returned to the top of the table. After winning the 2010 World Cup, Spain regained the top position and held it until August 2011, when the Netherlands reached the top spot for the first time,[7] only to drop it the following month.
In July 2014, Germany took over the lead once again, having won the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In July 2015, Argentina reached the top spot for the first time since 2008, after reaching both the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final, as well as the 2015 Copa America Final. In November 2015, Belgium became the leader in the FIFA rankings for the first time, after topping their Euro 2016 qualifying group. Belgium led the rankings until April 2016, when Argentina returned to the top. Brazil returned to the No. 1 spot in April 2017 for the first time since just prior to the 2010 World Cup, because they had already qualified for the 2018 World Cup as they were 1st in their qualification group with 4 match days still left to go.[8] However, Germany regained the top spot in July after winning the Confederations Cup.[9]
In the summer of 2018, FIFA updated their rating system by adopting the Elo rating system. The first ranking list with this system, in August 2018, saw France retake the top spot for the first time after nearly 16 years, having won the 2018 FIFA World Cup. One month later, for the first time, two teams were both leaders as Belgium reached the same ranking as France.[10] This lasted only one month, and from September 2018 until now (as of April 2020[update]), Belgium is leading the FIFA ranking.
Awards
Team of the year
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Performance by team
| Team | First place | Second place | Third place | Top 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22x20px Brazil | 12 | 4 | 5 | 21 |
| File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain | 6 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| 22x20px Belgium | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 22x20px Germany | 3 | 6 | 4 | 13 |
| 22x20px Argentina | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| 22x20px France | 1 | 8 | 2 | 11 |
| 22x20px Netherlands | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 22x20px Italy | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 22x20px Czech Republic | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 22x20px Portugal | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 22x20px Colombia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Best Mover of the Year
The Best Mover of the Year was awarded to the team who made the best progress up the rankings over the course of the year. In the FIFA rankings, this is not simply the team that has risen the most places, but a calculation is performed in order to account for the fact that it becomes progressively harder to earn more points the higher up the rankings a team is.
The calculation used is the number of points the team has at the end of the year (z) multiplied by the number of points it earned during the year (y). The team with the highest index on this calculation received the award. The table below shows the top three best movers from each year.
The award has not been an official part of the awards since 2006.
| Year | First place | Second place | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 22x20px Colombia | 22x20px Portugal | 22x20px Morocco |
| 1994 | 22x20px Croatia | 22x20px Brazil | 22x20px Uzbekistan |
| 1995 | 22x20px Jamaica |  Trinidad and Tobago |
22x20px Czech Republic |
| 1996 | 22x20px South Africa | 22x20px Paraguay | 22x20px Canada |
| 1997 | 22x20px Yugoslavia | 22x20px Bosnia and Herzegovina | 22x20px Iran |
| 1998 | 22x20px Croatia | 22x20px France | 22x20px Argentina |
| 1999 | 22x20px Slovenia | 22x20px Cuba | 22x20px Uzbekistan |
| 2000 |  Nigeria |
22x20px Honduras | File:Flag of Cameroon.svg Cameroon |
| 2001 | 22x20px Costa Rica | 22x20px Australia | 22x20px Honduras |
| 2002 | 22x20px Senegal | 22x20px Wales | 22x20px Brazil |
| 2003 | 22x20px Bahrain | 22x20px Oman | 22x20px Turkmenistan |
| 2004 | 22x20px China PR | 22x20px Uzbekistan | 22x20px Côte d'Ivoire |
| 2005 | 22x20px Ghana | 22x20px Ethiopia | File:Flag of Switzerland.svg Switzerland |
| 2006 | 22x20px Italy | 22x20px Germany | 22x20px France |
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While an official award has not been made for movements since 2006, FIFA has released a list of the 'Best Movers' in the rankings since 2007.[11]
| Year | Best mover | Second best | Third best |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 22x20px Mozambique | 22x20px Norway | [[File:{{{flag alias-french}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] New Caledonia |
| 2008 | File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain | 22x20px Montenegro | File:Flag of Russia.svg Russia |
| 2009 | 22x20px Brazil | 22x20px Algeria | 22x20px Slovenia |
| 2010 | 22x20px Netherlands | 22x20px Montenegro | 22x20px Botswana |
| 2011 | 22x20px Wales | 22x20px Sierra Leone | 22x20px Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 2012 | 22x20px Colombia | 22x20px Ecuador |  Mali
|
| 2013[12] | 22x20px Ukraine | 22x20px Armenia | 22x20px United States |
| 2014[13] | 22x20px Germany | 22x20px Slovakia | 22x20px Belgium |
| 2015[14] | 22x20px Turkey | 22x20px Hungary | 22x20px Nicaragua |
| 2016[15] | 22x20px France | 22x20px Peru | 22x20px Poland |
| 2017 | 22x20px Denmark | File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden | 22x20px Bolivia |
| 2018[16] | 22x20px France | File:Flag of Uruguay.svg Uruguay | 22x20px Kosovo |
| 2019[17] | 22x20px Qatar | 22x20px Algeria | 22x20px Japan |
| 2019 | 22x20px Hungary | 22x20px Ecuador | File:Flag of Malta.svg Malta |
References
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ https://inside.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/men. Retrieved 2024-03-22
- ↑ Price, Steve (11 June 2018). "How FIFA's New Ranking System Will Change International Soccer". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveprice/2018/06/11/how-fifas-new-ranking-system-will-change-international-soccer/#18864e86c412. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Top Team and the Best Mover of the Year Archived 2021-06-27 at the Wayback Machine on the FIFA website (PDF)
- ↑ "Spain on top, Ukraine highest climber". fifa.com. 19 December 2013. https://www.fifa.com/worldranking/news/newsid=2247360/index.html. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
- ↑ "Germany conquer 2014, Belgium, Slovakia impress". fifa.com. 18 December 2014. https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/news/y=2014/m=12/news=germany-conquer-2014-belgium-slovakia-impress-2493791.html. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
- ↑ "Belgium and Turkey claim awards, Hungary return". fifa.com. 3 December 2015. https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/news/y=2015/m=12/news=belgium-and-turkey-claim-awards-hungary-return-2741598.html. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
- ↑ "Argentina and France take Ranking awards". fifa.com. 22 December 2016. https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/news/y=2016/m=12/news=argentina-and-france-take-ranking-awards-2861406.html?intcmp=fifacom_hp_module_news_top. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ↑ Belgium end year on top, France 2018's top mover. FIFA. 20 December 2018. https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/news/belgium-end-year-on-top-france-2018-s-top-mover. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
- ↑ Belgium crowned Team of the Year, Qatar 2019's biggest climber. FIFA. 19 December 2019. https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/news/belgium-crowned-team-of-the-year-qatar-2019-s-biggest-climber. Retrieved 19 December 2019.