FIFA Rankings September '08

[papereyes]

Olympics are not included, so there's little change, really.

1 Spain 1565 0
2 Italy 1339 1
3 Germany 1329 -1
4 Netherlands 1295 0
5 Croatia 1266 0
6 Brazil 1252 0
7 Argentina 1230 0
8 Czech Republic 1134 0
9 Portugal 1120 0
10 Turkey 1033 3
11 France 1019 1
12 Russia 1013 -2
13 Romania 1007 -2
14 Cameroon 999 1
15 England 991 -1
16 Scotland 976 0
16 Bulgaria 976 1
18 Greece 921 0
19 Israel 874 1
20 Ghana 864 -1

Whole round of qualifiers this weekend in Europe and Africa, at least, this weekend.

BTW: 1995-1996 was the last time Scotland were this close to England ... (Jun '95 is the last time, to my knowledge that Scotland were above England)

[Kevin Doyles Right Foot]

were below romania lols.

[Bill Oddie's Beard]

How are Israel top 20?

[Thaumagurist*]

At least France are 11th, I'm much happier with that. Hopefully we can overtake them by next week.

[winchester_royal]

LOL @ Croatia being ahead of Argies.

Oh, and of course LOL @ us.

[Ian Royal]

Bikey is now officially better than Terry and Ferdinand. LMFAO.

[rg6royal]

Brazil have dropped quite a lot...

[earleyroyal]

LOL @ Croatia being ahead of Argies.

Oh, and of course LOL @ us.

Croatia > every team in Europe apart from Spain.

I think they will dick on England.

[winchester_royal]

LOL @ Croatia being ahead of Argies.

Oh, and of course LOL @ us.

Croatia > every team in Europe apart from Spain.

I think they will dick on England.

Didn't Russia beat them?

[Kitsondinho]

Bikey is now officially better than Terry and Ferdinand. LMFAO.

Mainly because the man is legend.......especially after his ACN tango actions!

[papereyes]

Brazil have dropped quite a lot...

Have you seen the CONMEBOL qualifying table.

[weybridgewanderer]

If Scotland beat both Macedonia and Iceland and England lose to Croatia then Scotland will move above England

[cmonurz]

How are the points calculated? Surprised to see Brazil drop so far with a World Cup win only 2 years ago, despite their current qualifying performance.

[Thaumagurist*]

I'm sure it was Italy who won the World Cup 2 years ago.

[cmonurz]

I'm sure it was Italy who won the World Cup 2 years ago.

LOL that explains it then. Brazil don't have a World Cup win in their points to bump up their dismal non-tournament results.

[papereyes]

How are the points calculated? Surprised to see Brazil drop so far with a World Cup win only 2 years ago, despite their current qualifying performance.

Over the last four years, scaled points depending on who you play and in what competition. I think only the best 8 games in a calendar year are counted ...

My main gripe is that it seems fine within a continent (so the UEFA one makes some level of sense on its own) but they completely over-estimate the other continents.

This effect is most notable in the middle, when you get things like "Half decent european team are worse than BongoBongoland"

[Aussie Stu]

After the top 3 & throw in Brazil & Argentina the rest is a raffle.
Aussies beat #4 Netherlands overnight in Holland 2-1, I'm tipping if we had of played #7 Brazil in Rio we wouldn't have walked away with a 2-1 victory.
Israel being top 20 supports the argument of continents being weighted. They aren't even in Europe.... is that to prevent a riot every time they play a world cup qualifier?

[earleyroyal]

LOL @ Croatia being ahead of Argies.

Oh, and of course LOL @ us.

Croatia > every team in Europe apart from Spain.

I think they will dick on England.

Didn't Russia beat them?

No. Turkey scored an added-time equaliser after Croatia had dominated the game and then won on penalties. Croatia were sensational against Germany (eventual finalists), winning a group game 2-1 with the scoreline not reflecting the game at all. Many pundits (as in those who actually knew what they were on about, not the BBC) thought that Croatia would've at least reached the final had they had a natural finisher up front. If Eduardo returns to fitness and form, they may well be worth a punt for the next World Cup. (Russia beat Holland in the quarter-final before losing to Spain.)

Not sure what their odds are on winning the group but if it's anything like the Hatton-Mayweather fight, when English fans piled in on Hatton resulting in Mayweather's odds being lengthened, then fill your boots on Croatia to win.

[papereyes]

I really do thMany pundits (as in those who actually knew what they were on about, not the BBC) thought that Croatia would've at least reached the final had they had a natural finisher up front. If Eduardo returns to fitness and form, they may well be worth a punt for the next World Cup.ink its not all that cut and dried.

Watching the Turkey game when chance after chance went begging, it was crying out for Eduardo.

And that's why I think it won't be as cut and dried as it could be. Yes, there's the home record but without the Brazilian, Croatia are missing something - Olic, Klasnic and Petric are all hard working, but ... Further to that, Modric and Krancjar (injured?) haven't really hit form in their league games yet, either.

[papereyes]

In the qualifying tournament, Croatia lost to Macedonia and drew 0-0 with Russia twice.