The U.S. national team has slipped six spots to 26th in the latest FIFA World Rankings released on Wednesday.
Three African teams jumped ahead of the United States after the recent African Cup of Nations. Ghana moved up a remarkable 29 spots to 14th, Cameroon jumped eight spots to 17 and Ivory Coast moved 14 spots to 24th. Poland (20), Russia (22), Israel (23) and Sweden (24) also moved ahead of the United States.
Don’t trying making any sense of these rankings. After all, Egypt, which just won the African Cup of Nations for a second straight time, is ranked 29th, fourth best among African teams (though it did move up six spots).
The Americans aren’t the biggest losers in the latest rankings among top 50 teams. That distinction goes to Nigeria, which went from 19 to 45 after a disappointing African Cup of Nations showing.
A handful of CONCACAF teams saw their rankings plummet. Cuba dropped 17 spots to 88, Trinidad & Tobago dropped 20 spots to 98 and Haiti dropped 27 spots to 100. That isn’t good news for T&T and Haitian players who were thinking of making moves to England this summer.
It’s not all bad for CONCACAF. Honduras moved four spots into a tie for 50 while Guatemala jumped 11 spots to 94.
Here is the full table of rankings.
Share your thoughts on the latest rankings below.
1 Argentina
2 Brazil
3 Italy
4 Spain
5 Germany
6 Czech Republic
7 France
8 Portugal
9 Netherlands
10 Greece
11 England
12 Croatia
13 Romania
14 Ghana
14 Scotland
16 Mexico
17 Cameroon
18 Turkey
19 Bulgaria
20 Poland
21 Colombia
22 Russia
23 Israel
24 Côte d’Ivoire
24 Sweden
26 USA
I think the US has a legitimate shot against maybe three of the countries ranked above them (Mexico, Israel, and Columbia). While we have had success against Poland and Scotland in the past, these are two teams playing much better now than when we last went against them. Sweden is a team who always gets it done when it is on the line- no way the US does them in a meaningful game.
Conversely, when you look down the rankings to the next eleven spots after the US, I’m not sure the US would beat any of those teams either.
27 Paraguay
28 Norway
29 Egypt
30 Uruguay
31 Serbia
32 Ukraine
33 Denmark
34 Northern Ireland
35 Japan
36 Republic of Ireland
37 Finland
38 Australia
Elias Ulvi:
How old are you, nine? You make a post talking about how dumb some of the people are on this forum, and then you proceed to demonstrate that your the dumbest of all.
You say “There is no way to decide if a team is better than another unless there are games between the two nations or they have like opponents.” So, if the U.S. beats England when they play that will make them the better team? Everyone will say, “Hey, look at that, the U.S. has now surpassed England as a football nation.”
You also said “Any team on any given day can win a match. These rankings are crap.” So even if teams did play each other directly it wouldn’t mean anything?
You follow this by completely contradicting yourself by saying: “Can’t argue with the top ten too much, but everything else is up in the air.” So the top part of the rankings work and don’t have to meet your criteria because YOU agree with them? I don’t know about how “dumb some people on these posts” are, but you did a pretty good job of proving it to be true of you.
Finally, you make an illiterate post, and then call me illiterate. As an example, you make up a grammar error, and then say I said it. There’s just one problem retard, the posts are there for everyone to see and cannot be edited. I never said any such thing and it’s right there for you to look at. Go back to playing with your building blocks!
By the way oh sensitive Aristotle, I was telling FIFA to stay ignorant. Relax.
Aristotle:
“Your and ignorant moron”
Just goes to show that you are both ignorant AND illiterate. Should be “You’re” genius.
Great counter Aristotle! Full of reasons why you are right and I am wrong. Wow.
FIFA’s ranking system has always been suspect. They take things into account that are often meaningless. Look at how they do their seeding for WC’s…one of the things they look at for that is a team’s performance in the previous 2 WC’s. What kind of sense does that make ?!
England is #11 because they are England. Period. I think the US is realistically somewhere in the #15-20 range. #29 is low, and I’d like our chances against several teams ranked above us.
“for more accurate ratings check out http://www.eloratings.com”
Actually, it’s http://www.eloratings.net.
And I agree that they are a better ranking system than FIFA’s. But, that said, we are 27 in the ELO rankings – worse than under FIFA’s rankings.
But, look, these ranking systems take into account the importance of the games – real tournaments are more important than friendlies. And in real tournaments, we haven’t played well lately – indeed, we only have one impressive win in the last three tournaments we played – against Mexico in the GC final. We were awful at the World Cup, we beat some minnows at the GC, and we were awful at Copa America. Why should we be ranked higher than, say, Paraguy and Colombia when both of those teams beat us in the last competitive situation in which we played?
It’s funny what a difference two years make. In 2006 every American soccer fan was pounding his chest in promotion of our #3 ranking. Now that we are ranked #26 all you hear is trepidation about the rankings process. You can’t have it both ways people. Face it, until this country actually does something outside of CONCACAF, we shouldn’t be ranked much higher than we are now. We aren’t as good as you all think we are.
Elias Ulvi:
You:
“Man, there are some dumb people on these posts.”
You:
“Stay ignorant”
Both of these statements refer to you more than anyone else. Your an ignorant moron!
Man, there are some dumb people on these posts.
There is no way to decide if a team is better than another unless there are games between the two nations or they have like opponents. Both people saying we are better than or especially Aristotle saying we are not as good as Israel or Bulgaria, are just shooting off at the mouth.
Any team on any given day can win a match. These rankings are crap. They were when we were 5th in the world and they are now.
Can’t argue with the top ten too much, but everything else is up in the air. I am definitely impressed by the top African nations, but it is hilarious to me that a team can move up or down 30 places. That to me just shows that FIFA are admitting that the last time they posted rankings, they didn’t know what the hell they were doing. Never will. Also, because teams are in a tournament, they are the flavor of the month. If Ghana hadn’t had their tournament, they wouldn’t have moved an inch, but does that mean they were any less of a team?
Stay ignorant.
THFC:
You said that there is no way in hell that teams like Israel and Bulgaria are better than the USMNT. What do you base this on? Have you even looked at their results history or are you just throwing that out there because you assume we would be better than countries like that? They are certainly better than the U.S. and they have proven it.
Israel, who I would assume most people think are the weaker of the two teams, just tied England in Euro 2008 qualifying with 23 points. They missed qualifying for the the tournament by one point having to battle teams such as Croatia, Russia, and England. Bulgaria also missed qualifying by one point finishing third behind Romania and the Netherlands.
What about Puerto Rico part of Concacaf moved 28 spots , Come on Ives soy Boricua
I don’t think we should pay too much attention to these (the rest of the world does not seem to). But for what it’s worth, these seem generally accurate, give or take a couple of spots (we’re may be 20-25 team).
This has nothing to do with this topic, but didn’t know where else to post this? http://www.nbc4.com/news/15295762/detail.html
So DC is definitely getting a stadium? Did I miss this one or is this new.
We definately aren’t in the top ten, but we are in the top 20 best teams for sure. There is no way in hell that teams like Israel and Bulgaria are better than the USMNT.
Haig: That was brilliant. I literally laughed out loud.
Will: No one is arguing we are a top 10 team. I think some of us feel disrespected to draw a top-15 and drop 6 spots. On top of that, we beat Sweden and they jumped us in the rankings. Don’t give me this was their B Team stuff because we sent our B Team as well.
“for more accurate ratings check out http://www.eloratings.com”
My accurate ELO ratings:
1. “Hold On Tight (To Your Dreams)”
2. “Shine A Little Love”
3. “Fire On High”
4. “Don’t Bring Me Down”
999. “Rockaria!”
3.
FIFA’s rankings are good for only one thing, but unfortunately I only have this list on my computer screen and I’d hate to use up my Windex on fecal matter.
Jon, the rankings only account for results from a certain time period, I don’t know what that is though. The reason the US moved down is because some results from a while ago have timed out.
The US in NOT a top 10 team. Accept it.
They were horribly overrated going into the last World Cup and for the couple of years before that. They need to win some tournaments and have better showings in the Copa America.
That said, rankings are fun but they really don’t mean anything. The only thing that means anything is winning the World Cup. Second to that, winning a regional tournament.
these rankings are ridiculous. the u.s. ties mexico 2-2 and moves down 6 spots. guatemala was absolutely destroyed 5-0 by argentina and moves up 11 spots!! how is that possible?
these ratings are always as BS as Osorio’s “I did it all for la familia” crap.
Who cares?
I don’t think the rankings are that bad. No ranking system is perfect. Right off the bat, tell me what’s so bad about the top 10? Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Germany, The Czech Republic, France, Portugal, etc., aren’t the best teams?
We don’t deserve to be 26? What is it we have done that makes us not deserve to be 26? Other teams are playing in major tournaments and doing well. We played in a tournament not too long ago, but we couldn’t bother to send a good team. This is a very fair ranking for us. Just wait till you see where we are after our next 3 matches! Besides everyone complains when we are high, but now we are unhappy because we are too low?
The rankings play a part in the World Cup seeding considerations so they are important. It could mean getting the top seeds or getting put in a 3rd or 4th tier in a group of death. They are more important than most people here think. Mexico got a top seed in 2006 because of its Fifa ranking.
for more accurate ratings check out:
http://www.eloratings.net
the us is lucky to even be considered in the top 50
Come on Nick, nobody takes the rankings that seriously, but they are fun to talk about and make fun of.
And yes, it was a slow news day.
Mark, are you kidding me?
“They had some great wins…”
Yeah I’d say….beating Brazil and ending up 3rd in Copa America had a lot do with this.
Maybe if the US had sent a proper team down South, that would change.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Football_Elo_Ratings
Something to consider, they take into account the importance of the games, friendlies, regional tournaments, world cups and etc.
26?!?! FIRE BOB BRADLEY!!!!!
Only in the new, glorious FIFA ranking system could GHANA climb about 30 spots in a month to tie SCOTLAND at 14th. Gotta love it! Go FIFA!
USA team belongs on the top 25………..a couple of years ago we where 5……….. that was crazy and it hurt our team going in to the World Cup……
Realistically, I think the USMNT are ranked with teams that are pretty close to our level. I’d say we’re a top 17 team give or take 7, (looking at the teams we can be expected to beat at least half the time home or away). I think this summer’s friendlies against Spain, England and Argentina will go along way in showing me where our current level is. Judgiing based on results against Mexico is always problematicaly since we always play them home, and results of “clasicos” many times have little relation to a team’s general form, since teams play a lot differently in those matches.
Obviously, we’ve all known not to take these rankings too seriously. Or with any ounce of seriousness if at all.
I mean Guam tied for last (202nd) with six others!??!
We’ve got to be AT LEAST tied for last with just one other team.
I can’t believe FIFA would undermine Guam’s football association, albeit nonexistant football association, like that.
Though I am proud of the Philippines’ 190th ranking. Moving on up, baby.
Puerto Rico 168th in the world!!!! Wow!!! This must be the highest we’ve ever been off of the bottom. Moving 28 places, we must be the biggest mover, too. Two wins and a tie will do that for you when you haven’t played a game in a loooonng time. Woo hoo!
I’m disapointed Ives even posts about such a joke.
These rankings mean nothing.
Must be a slow news day….
Only thing that bothers me is that Mexico is ranked ahead of us. We get results against them consistently, yet they always seem to trump us in the rankings. Still ticks me off regarding the draw they had in 2006 for the Cup due to the seedings. Don’t get me wrong, I have a ton of respect for Mexico and they’ve had some great wins over the past 12 months, but come on…
To qualify for a Brittish work permit you need to have played in 75% of your National teams “A” games over the last two years and your team must be ranked in the top ~75 or so for FIFA. Obvious exceptions and waivers but that is the rule.
“There are about as meaningful as the Grammys.”
These.
There are about as meaningful as the Grammys.
Why do we care?
FIFA world rankings are a joke. End of story for me.
I think that ranking Scotland that high is reasonable. They were right up there with France and Italy and were very unfortunate not to get into the Euro championships.
I thought T&T players didn’t have the same immigration rules applied to them as say Americans or Haitians because T&T like Canada are a part of the Commonwealth of Nations?
What difference does it make for players in T&T and Haiti if they want to go to England now that their countries have dropped in rankings? Does it have something to do with getting a work permit?
Ok I’m as big a US fan as the next guy, but we really need to be realistic here. The US is NOT a top 10 team. We don’t even have a single player on an elite team. Yes we would be tough against many strong opponents, but we are not an elite nation yet.
Wow! England is the 11th best team in the world. They’ll do really well in Euro 2008… oh, wait.
We need to scheudule all the teams in front of us for a friendly to settle this! Actually it looks like we are well on our way to doing that!
What a joke
England the 11th ranked team in the world?
Scotland #14
Mexico only 16th behind those two and Greece at #10.
Rankings can be fun but FIFA’s are far fetched.
Teams 1-9 would all be a tough match, teams from 11-25 are all beatable and in many cases we already have.
I was tempted to say that I could give a rat’s behind about this table, but the truth is I’d love to see the US – deservedly – go top 10 again. I believe that day isn’t too far away. I like our chances against many of the teams ranked above us…
Who feels worse: the Americans or England for being out of the top 10?
I’d much rather have the US operate from this ranking than labor under the weight of some of our earlier, MUCH higher and MUCH less accurate positions.
Let the world underestimate our abilities at their own peril.