Does FIFA ranking reflect real strength?
A soccer fan expressed his surprise at the elevated positions of some of the substandard national teams in the latest FIFA Ranking released on Thursday. I said, the ranking does not reflect the real strength of a national team. The FIFA World Ranking is a ranking system for men’s national teams in association football, currently led by Germany The teams of the member nations of FIFA football’s world governing body are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest. The rankings were introduced in December 1992, and eight teams (Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain) have held the top position, of which Brazil have spent longest ranked first.
A points system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of all FIFA-recognised full international matches. Under the existing system, rankings are based on a team’s performance over the last four years, with more recent results and more significant matches being more heavily weighted to help reflect the current competitive state of a team
World and Confederations Cup Champions Germany lead Olympic Champions Brazil by six points (1609-1603) followed by Argentina (1413). Euro Champions Portugal and Copa America Champions Chile hold 4th (1332) and 7th positions (1250) respectively.
Of the other continents, Iran continue to lead Asia, Egypt rank top in Africa, Mexico in North and Central America, New Zealand in Oceania.
Asia Champions Australia are second in Asia with 689 points behind Iran (893). In South Asia, India maintain top position with 341 points, surprisingly 12th in the continent.
P.Rozario
Pabna
