FanNation

This ranking not only predates the BCS, it actually is followed with considerable interest by much of this planet's population... even those who may not be able to read will watch the game I call "English football" (since the modern organized version of it began in England about 125 years ago) and which Americans, Canadians, and Australians (I may have missed a few others) call "soccer".

The ranking formula was revised soon after the 2006 World Cup... the USA was ranked 5th at one point, and the Czech Republic 2nd... (those who have followed international football for a while will smile at the inaccuracy of this)

And the rankings *are* used, but not as egregiously as the BCS rankings are. Why is that?

There's a bloody tournament before the sodding final, that's why.

Apologies for the lateness... I'll try to post something about the ranking once a month--it's revised monthly. This most recent ranking is from Wed., Apr. 9. In order: country, points,+/- rank (from Mar. '08), +/- pts. (from Mar. '08)

1. Argentina: 1519, 0, -37
2. Brazil: 1509, 0, -5
3. Italy: 1391, 0, -114
4. Spain: 1319, 0, -36
5. Germany: 1261, 0, -33
6. Czech Rep.: 1234, 0,-19
7. France: 1205, 0, -29
8. Greece: 1187, +2, +27
9. Portugal: 1125, -1, -81
10. Netherlands: 1124, -1, -55
11. England: 1098, 0, -44
12. Romania: 1085, +1, +25
13. Croatia: 1041, -1, -60
14. Ghana: 1006, +1, +3
15. Scotland: 1004, -1, -16
16. Mexico: 997, 0, +7
17. Cameroon: 996, 0, +29
18. Bulgaria: 953, +1, +31
19. Colombia: 911, +1, +2
20. Israel: 898, +2, +4
21. USA: 889, +7, +52
22. Ivory Coast: 868, +1, -18
23. Turkey: 860, -5, -64
24. Sweden: 858, 0, -27
25. Russia: 851, -4, -55

SOURCE: http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html

The top 25 includes 17 countries from UEFA (Europe), including Israel; 3 from CONMEBOL (S. America); 3 from CAF (Africa); and 2 from CONCACAF (N. America). Notice that there is no movement in the top 7, but that there is a lot of shuffling lower in the table... the USA was the big mover for the month, moving from 28 (off this list) to 21. The one country that moved off the list was Poland (from 24 to 28); most likely this was influenced by the USA's 3-0 "friendly" win against Poland (in Poland) on March 26... again, this ranking came out Apr. 9. 

Interestingly, though the rankings are important, they don't supersede the results of qualification tournaments to determine the participants of major tournaments like EURO 2008 (taking place this June-July) or the African Cup of Nations (which took place this past January-February). England (#11) infamously lost its last qualification game (at *home*, to add insult to injury) 2-3 to Croatia, which allowed Russia (#25) to finish second in their group, and so England will miss out on EURO 2008. Croatia (#13) won the group.

There are other examples of rankings not being borne out in results "on the pitch" (on the field), but this just goes to show that when the whistle blows and competition starts, rankings often go out the window--they're helpful gauges, but nothing more. When the match starts, it's up to the players (or "down to the players" as the British put it) to get the result. Which is the way it should be.

Another way to look at this table is as a list of footballing talent--that is, not which countries have the best *leagues*, but where are the best players in the best leagues worldwide coming from? Argentina and Brazil topping the list makes more sense then, because they export A LOT of players to the elite leagues (ALL in Europe). Some may argue about Czech or Greek players not being *that* good; but to take a specific example, I would say that the case of Manchester United proves that Portuguese players are better on average than English players... ;-)

That said, as EURO 2008 approaches I hope to take another look at the rankings in May, and take a closer look at the European countries. As always, I appreciate any comments and feedback.