Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By DAN KARELL
The U.S. Men’s National team may have gone 1-1 in their last two matches at the end of May and start of June, but they moved up a place in the latest FIFA World Rankings.
The U.S. now sit in 28th place, sitting behind Sweden and ahead of Norway, got a boost from Nigeria’s three place drop to 31, while surely gaining a point or two for the 4-3 victory over No. 2 Germany.
In the top ten, the Netherlands jumped four spots to fifth place, while England, Portugal, and Columbia all dropped places. Spain, Germany, Argentina, and Croatia make up the top four, in that order. Mexico dropped one place to 17th.
What do you think of the latest rankings?
Share your thoughts below.
Mali will drop no matter what happens in their next few games.
Still cant catch Mali. What will it take. ?
Just so long as we don’t catch malaria either.
Playing the German B-team was a good test for us at this point, even if it wasn’t the a true defeat of the second ranked team in thew world.
At the end of the day, we should strive to be one of the top 25 teams in the world, as it would indicate a healthy record in CONCACAF, but past that, who cares? The only time the US made top ten was before the 2006 World Cup. It makes sense to have rankings, but it is impossible to make them a rigid reality.
Finally Columbia Missouri is in the FIFA ranking system. But where is Colombia?
I think it is Columbia University, the first NCAA team to make FIFA’s list
Space Shuttle Columbia going down….one spot.
(too soon?)
Only a couple more spots and we can overtake those soccer powers Montenegro and Mali! Happy Days!
Anyone who takes these rankings with more than a grain of salt are foolish!
Yes… When Brazil is ranked 22nd because they are not playing World Cup qualifiers like everyone else… you know the system is a joke…
I don’t think the FIFA rating took into account he Germany win as the ratings were for the previous month of May.
The US would get more than “a point or two” for beating Germany. The FIFA points system is long and complicated and you actually get more points for beating a team in a WC qualifier than for a friendly as these matches are more important than friendlies. South America, Europe and even Africa sit above Concacaf in the FIFA Confed rankings. Playing and winning more games, even friendlies against opposition from those confed will greatly inprove the US FIFA rankings.
When was the last time we even played a team fro Africa? seeing that we will most likely meet One in the WC (like Ghana), it seems like a good idea to prepare for that evetuality
These rankings do include the Belgium and Germany matches. We got 558.36 points for beating Germany (whatever that means)
I get that they’re sometimes silly. But anyone who doesn’t take them seriously is foolish because they use them for seeding and pot allocation at all major international tournaments.
The only time the SR. USMNT could have used the FIFA ranking to get a seed, we were hosed by FIFA.
Leading up to the draw in the (I think) ’06 WC, the US was seeded 9th in the FIFA rankings. With two teams above us missing qualifying to the WC, it looked like the US would actually get a seed.
Not so fast. It seems that Italy would not be seeded, A former WC runner-up? not even getting a seed? This cannot be. So FiFA CHANGED the ranking procedure for the WC, taking into consideration, previous WC finishes as well as FIFA rankings, and presto-chango; Italy got the US’s seed. and Golly-gee, didn’t they win the tournament that year? and of course the US got stuck with Germany or another two big teams and went out without winning a game.,
Seeding do matter. The US won their group the last time and had an impossibly easy trip to the quarter is they could just beat lowly Ghana…OH well. But FIFA can giveth and FIFA can taketh away at a whim.And the rankings are always rigged so that Euro teams benefit, and the US and other similar teams can only hope that they can get a lucky break, because earning one is beyond us.
Honestly, it makes sense to take World Cup appearances into account. Everyone knows the Fifa Rankings are fickle and unrealistic- the top ten teams are usually pretty good, but the only tangible way to reward teams for long term success is how they fare at World Cups. The big teams get an advantage, no question. You can argue the whole system is unfair, but in this case, the US in no way deserved that ranking- it was before FIFA changed the rules slightly to make dominance in CONCACAF less of a deal, directly because of how lopsided our situation was.
Those other two teams were good (Ghama and the Czech Republic), but the US could still have gotten out of our group on the final day by beating Ghana, who were a rising power in Africa. Still, we could have beaten them- they were ranked lower than us, right? Yes, that was a rhetorical question. Ultimately, that US team lost steam before making the World Cup, and struggled mightily to play as well as it did in qualifying a year before.
yes they are. the Top 10 before the 2006 World Cup according to FIFA rankings:
1 Brazil
2 Czech Republic
3 Netherlands
4 Argentina
5 Mexico
5 Spain
5 France
8 USA
9 England
10 Portugal
actually, they got stuck with Italy, who they drew with in somewhat controversial fashion (due to the 2 red cards to the US, and the offsides call on a potential winner).
And with the Czech Republic who thumped the US 3-0 and a surprising Ghana who beat the US 2-0 and finished 2nd in the group.
ColOmbia
Just a friendly reminder 🙂
Seriously. One of the most annoying mistakes people make.
As a Colombian American, I don’t get annoyed, I just take it as a friendly opportunity to educate people!
a capital move, my good fellow… or is it capitol?
As a native of Hondorus I think you should be annoyed
It’s a very common mistake. I’m sure that the author won’t make it again. Sure that he knows better just made a typo.
Try not to be so annoyed and just try to see it like our ColOmbian-American brother does–an opportunity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20ZffI6by3A
Nice attitude Alex! People type “there” when they mean “their” all the time. Innocent mistake or ignorant mistake, either way it’s nothing personal
I didn’t realize the second ‘o’ was capitalized. ThAnks Alex!
“How have we moved up? We beat a German F-Team and Löw lost on purpose!”
-JK Haters
You can only beat what’s put on the field opposite you. Anyone that belittles that win because it wasn’t Germany’s “A” team needs to understand winning. But I agree, there are those who turn their nose up.
Wasn’t the German F-Team, Old School, it was the C-Team 🙂
But nonetheless a big, big victory to savor and here’s hoping it will go down in history as THE turning point in the Jurgen Klinsmann era. It has that feel about it.
“Wasn’t the German F-Team, Old School, it was the C-Team”
…but Löw still had an agreement with Klinsmann to lose intentionally.
evidence?
Kevin, I’m 100% joking. Please read above.
If the US keeps playing at least 3 or more games with the consistency they have shone in the past 2 games, I think they deserved that place in the list.Unfortunately, we have seen this over and over,from the days of Bob Bradly,till now, very amateurish at times and like real pros,like at the present time.
RE.