HOW DID YOUR TEAM RANK?

First published in August 1993 by FIFA and The Coca-Cola Company, the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking has since provided a monthly status list of all active senior national teams throughout the world. Currently, the ranking includes some 180 teams (191 national associations are affiliated to FIFA).

The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking evaluates all matches played by senior national teams, i.e. it covers neither youth nor women's nor any other national representative selections. Thus, the ranking is based upon the results of

  1. World Cup finals matches
  2. World Cup preliminary matches
  3. continental championship final matches
  4. continental championship preliminary matches
  5. friendly matches.

The initial status of the teams in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking was based upon the results achieved between 1985 and 1992.

The calculation of a team's points from a certain match is based on the following five criteria (for details see Basic Considerations):

  1. winning, drawing and losing
  2. number of goals
  3. home or away match
  4. importance of the match (multiplication factor)
  5. regional strength (multiplication factor).

BASIC CONSIDERATIONS

Normally, if a strong team plays repeatedly against obviously weaker teams, the stronger will continually win and the weaker continually lose. The former would stay at the top of the Ranking, the latter at the bottom. But this would not be a true reflection of these teams' real ability or progress.

Therefore, it was considered essential to assess the various criteria involved in the pairing of two teams and the outcome of the match between the two teams.

FIVE CONSIDERATIONS WERE ADOPTED AS THE MAIN CRITERIA

I. WINNING, DRAWING OR LOSING
Winning is naturally rewarded more than losing. But simply to award 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw and none for a defeat would not have served the purpose of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. A net total of two points is awarded per match. These are divided according to the relative strength of the teams involved in the match.

For example, in matches between teams of different strenghts, points could be awarded as in the following table (team A is the strongest, team D is the weakest):

A v. D (large difference in teams' strengths):
if A wins then A:+1.00 and D:+1.00
if Draw then A:0 and D:+2.00
if D wins then A:-1.00 and D:+3.00

B v. C (little difference in teams' strengths):
if B wins then B:+1.90 and C:+0.10
if Draw then B:+0.90 and C:+1.10
if C wins then B:-0.10 and C:+2.10

A1 v. A2 (teams of equal strength):
if A1 wins then A1:+2.00 and A2:0
if Draw then A1:+1.00 and A2:+1.00.

II. NUMBER OF GOALS
Just as points are divided according to the difference in strength of the two teams involved, so the number of goals scored and the goal difference is also taken into account. A goal scored by a weak team against a stronger team is rewarded more than a goal by a strong team against a weak one. However, goals are not evaluated to the point where a large number of goals is rewarded by more points than for winning or losing.

III. HOME OR AWAY MATCH
A bonus of +0.3 points is awarded to the away team, but teams winning a match on neutral ground receive no bonus points.

IV. IMPORTANCE OF THE MATCH
Bonus considerations were also introduced as a multiplying factor according to the nature of the match:
    * friendly match    x 1.00
    * continental championship preliminary match x 1.10
    * continental championship finals match x 1.25
    * World Cup preliminary match x 1.25
    * World Cup finals match x 1.50

V. REGIONAL STRENGTH
In order to reflect the respective footballing strengths of the various regions of the world, the FIFA confederations are regularly objectively evaluated. These assessments are determined according to past performances of teams from the respective continents in intercontinental matches and are, for 1997, as follows:
    * Europe   x 1.00
    * CONMEBOL x 1.00
    * Africa   x 0.95
    * CONCACAF x 0.90
    * Asia     x 0.90
    * Oceania  x 0.85

This criterion is only applied to matches between two teams from the same continent. Matches between teams from different continents, and also World Cup finals matches, are given the regional strength factor 1.00. The assessments are mathematically updated on an annual basis.

SUMMARY
The points recorded in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking are the sum total of the five criteria mentioned above (a to e). If the sum total for a team (for a given match or in the overall standings) is negative, then this negative points total is recorded as 0.00.

FURTHER EVALUATION CRITERIA

For complete objectivity, two other vital criteria must also be applied when calculating the overall ranking over a given period of time:

  1. the number of matches in that period,
  2. the evaluation of past matches before that period

NUMBER OF MATCHES
A special key has been formulated to evaluate the results achieved in the ranking period. This is based upon a combination of
- the total of the best eight results in the period
- the total of the results of all matches in the period.

Thus, in the case of a team playing 12 matches in the ranking period, the calculation is as follows:

  • The best eight of the 12 results are identified