FIFA World Ranking

European countries stay top three in FIFA World ranking

2008-10-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

After the European cup the ranking of the FIFA world ranking changes as we see Spain for the first time went top of the world ranking after winning the European cups beating Germany in the final. Till the beginning of October 2008 Spain which collected 1643 point stay top followed by Italy the last world cup champion at 1365. Germany the loser to Spain in the European cups stay at third placing collecting 1336 points. The present placing we saw three top European countries stay at top three. Brazil who won the most world cup stays forth at 1280 points.

Today's we see many countries going up and down in the FIFA World Ranking. Some countries which was not very good in soccer before are moving up. England one of the most talked about in football keeps going down in position. Now the country stay at fourteen places collecting 982. This is one of the worse position for a countries which are most admire by many countries of its great football. Seeing other countries going down are Argentina, Netherlands and Portugal. Argentina will be manager in the coming world cup by the HAND OF GOD Diego Maradona.

The latest top ten FIFA World Ranking

2008-06-26T02:45:00.000-07:00

After three month the FIFA World Ranking still remain the same as Argentina still head the groups in the world ranking. The ranking will be change after the European Cups as ranking like Turkey and Russia will go up as this countries has already enter the semi- final. Seeing the charts world cups champion Italy will go down a ranking as Italy are not playing a good soccer this Europeon cups, losing to Holland, drawing to Romania and beating France in the first round. In the second round lost to Spain.

Some of the countries in south America will see some changes after the world cup qualify round. Cuba one of the best countries in football drops many ranking and Jamaica. In Asia countries like Australia will go up and also one or two countries in middle east.

Till today the FIFA World Ranking is still Argentina top the list follow closely by Brazil and last world cup champion Italy. Spain stay forth follow by Germany, Czech republic, France, Greece, England and Holland. This are the latest top ten FIFA World Ranking and will see some changes after the early July 2008.

England is now in eleven place at 1098 points.in FIFA World Ranking

2008-04-23T22:38:00.000-07:00

As there was not much soccer competition going on this two month, the FIFA World Ranking remains the same as Argentina top the list and stays as FIFA world Ranking no. 1 with a point of 1519 and still follow by Brazil at 1509 points. Italy the world cups champion in 2006 stays at third place at 1391, Spain at 1319, Germany 1261, Czech Republic stay in six place at 1234 points, France in seventh place at 1205 follow by Greece 1187, Portugal 1125 and in tenth place is Holland.

England the world champion in 1966 and much talked around the world of its class soccer and for the first after their world cup champion drops below the top ten ranking by FIFA World Ranking personal because of its poor performers in the European competition and show the exit door in this coming European cup. Without England in the games for the cup, I find the game was not very much talked and lost its games value. England is now in eleven place at 1098 points.

The top ten in FIFA world ranking

2008-02-25T01:14:00.000-08:00

After the European cup results, we saw England drop to eleven spots from the top six places by FIFA world ranking, a results saw the sacking of their manager Steve. Last 2 years Italy the world cup holders in 2006 saw them dropped to third place behind Argentina and five times cups holders Brazil.

Argentina whose is top in the world cup ranking in February 2008 has 1518 points, follow closer by Brazil at 1502 points. Italy the world cup holders at 1484 points. Futher away Spain whose is in forth place at 1352 p0ints. Germany in fifth place at 1281 points, Czech Republic in sixth place follow by France, 7th, Portugal in 8th place, 9th place is Holland and Greece in ten places at 1142 points. England the first time below the ten place margin had only 1133 points to show.

FIFA to name 2014 host country

2007-10-31T03:01:00.000-07:00

Brazil hosting of the 2014 World cup is expected to be confirmed at the end of october 2007 thats is somewhere today after FIFA finalised its selection. FIFA world soccer governing body said it would name the host on october following a meeting of its excutive meeting committee.

Brazil FIFA world ranking number one,and the country thats holds the world cups the most times are host to the world cup in 1950 which they lost to Uruguay by 2-1 margin in their capital of Rio de Janeiro. With the changes of the FIFA World Ranking last year, The number one ranking had been changing hand between this three country, Italy, Brazil and Argentina. Before it was Brazil all the time. The last world cup that the south America country host are in Argentina in the year 1978 where the host won the world cup.

South Africa will host 2010 world cup

2007-08-24T00:55:00.000-07:00

Fifa president Sepp Blatter said that the world cups for the year 2010 that is going to held in South Africa would go ahead as planned even though football govering body had madeplans for a last minute venue switch. He said it was only Prudent for alternatives changes to be considered should unforseen diaster srtrike.

Sepp Blatter said no others African country was on the list despite as it being the continents turns to stage the world cup in South Africa if South Africa is unable to stage the world cup. There are many other country that can stage the world cup in a few year preparation. Countries like England, United States, Spain, Mexico and Japan.

South Africa who is now FIFA World Ranking number 61th is planned to build 10 new stadiums for the 2010 world cup and dismissed suggestions that it will not be ready on time that worry the football govering body. During the meeting the Fifa has suggest giving more helps to the referees by dobling the linesman from two to four.

Brazil are now FIFA World Ranking number one

2007-08-24T00:45:00.000-07:00

This year 2007 we see alot of changes in the FIFA World Ranking standing. Just a few month back we see Italy which won the world cup in 2006 became world ranking number one and France shoot up in second spots while Brazil which won the most world cups drops to number three position. Japan who fail to defend as a campion in the Asain cups drop to 41 position and south Korea moves up to 50 position.

With the 2007 copa America game this month where the final was play between Brazil and Argentina and eventually Brazil won the cups by beating Argentina by two goals became FIFA World Ranking number one. Argentina who lost to Brazil and the favourite to win the Copa America cups is now world ranking number two. Italy drops to thirds position and follows by France and Germany. England the most talk teams in the world are out of the top 10 ranking, there are now on the 12th position due to there recent bad performers in their games.

Countries like USA are in the 17 the place, Croatia a good result in the Euro 2008 qualifying round are up in the six position behind Germany. Malaysia a country where I lived is drops to 156 position after a very bad result in the recent Asian cups.

Maradona hand goal was voted the best goal of all time.

2007-07-12T22:32:00.000-07:00

Hungarian not in the top twenty of the FIFA World Ranking was voted second best team of all time after Brazil's who is now the third FIFA World Ranking. Hungarian side of 1953 was voted second best and Dutch side that lose in the 1974 World cups final to West Germany. During that time, the Dutch team was captain by the one time superstar Johan Cruff.

While Maradona was voted the best top goalscorers by World Soccer Magazine from the second goal score against England in 1986 World cups quater-final, Dutchman Marco Van Basten goal against the soviet Union in Holland's victory in the 1988 Europeon Championship final was voted the second best and Zinedine Zidane's was voted the third best playing for Real Madrid in their 2002 champions leaque final victory over Bayer Leverkusen.

Brazil's 1970 world cup voted the best team of all time

2007-07-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

Brazil 1970 World cup winning teams and FIFA world ranking number one at that time has been voted the best of all time in a global poll of experts conducted by world soccer magazine. The greatest goal of all time was score by Diego Maradona's was judged the best goal during the quater-final match against England where Argentina won the match 2-1 in the 1986 World cups in Mexico.

The vote for the greatest match of all time completed a hattrick for events that took place in Mexico World cups. The experts opted for the 1970 semi- final in mexico city in which Italy, now 2007 FIFA World Ranking number one, beat Germany 4-3 in extra time after a heart pounching match.

World Soccer Magazine described Brazil's 1970 winners as more than a team adding the Brazilian side that won the 1970 World cup in such style have become a myth, a team to be held up as the ultimate exponents of the beautiful game.

Columbia not in the top twenty placing by FIFA world ranking

2007-06-19T23:17:00.000-07:00

Former Colombia international Footballer Freddy Rincon was arrested in Brazil following an extradition request from Panama. He was detained this morning and is being held at the federal police headquarters in Sao Paulo. Police said Rincon, who was arrested at his home is wanted in Panama on money laundering charges.

Rincon a lanky midfielder with a surprisingly delf touch, played for Brazilian clubs Corinthians and Palmeiras, Napoli and Real Madrid. He played in three world cups for his country and captained the Corinthians team who won FIFA's club world cup in the year 2000.

Recently the 40 year old Ricon has been trying to break into coaching and this year had a brief spell with modest provincial club Sao Bento. This year from the FIFA world ranking result, Columbia are not in the top twenty placing.

France climb to second in FIFA ranking

2007-06-19T22:43:00.000-07:00

Europe stole a march on South America in June's FIFA world ranking list released on this month with France leapfrogging Brazil and Argentina to take second spots, while 2006 world cup champions Italy held onto first place. Back to back victories in Europe 2008 qualifiers this month buoyed both France and Germany, which rose to fourth placing in the world, its higest position in more than four years.

Breaking up into the top 20 were the United States, Sweden, Ghana and Ivory Coast. Their fortunes constrasted with Turkey, Scothland,Russia and Mexico, all of which feel several places. The biggest surge albeit lower down the rankings, came from Armenia which climbed to 48th position from 80th position due to an upset victory over Poland.

FIFA world ranking body sain the rankings would likely be shaken up in the coming months with the Copa America and more Europe 2008 qualifiers taken into account, while results from last year's world cup diminshing in value. The placings of the top twenty are :

1) Italy
2) France
3) Brazil
4) Germany
5) Argentina
6) Portugal
7) Spain
8) England
9) Holland
10) Czech Republic
11) Croatia
12) Romamia
13) Ukraine
14) Cameroon
15) Greece
16) United State
17) Sweden
18) Poland
19) Ghana
20) Ivory Coast

FIFA World Ranking for Asian countries keep droping

2007-05-07T00:56:00.000-07:00

The changes take places in this year FIFA World Ranking are quite fast due to many countries commitment in the European and Asian cups. Italy after winning the 2006 world cups has jumps to second place behind Brazil, the most world cups champions With the early changes Argentina became FIFA World Ranking follow by Italy and Brazil. The latest changes see Italy becomes the worls number one FIFA World Ranking

The changes also see England Drops to eight sports following poor result in this year European qualiflying games. Argentina goes down to second place while Brazil which is always number one in FIFA World Ranking stay in third placing. French and Germany remaind fourth and fifth placing. Holland and Portugal up one placing, there are now six and seven placing above England.

Fot the Asian countries Japan and South Korea drops to 46th and 51st placing. Malaysia last time in soccer a fear country in Asia drops to 151th placing and will be droping if the standard of soccer is not improved compare to neighbouring country Singapore and is now above Malaysia in 124th position.

Most of the teams in Africa is improving their position, while many teams in Europe has slight changes in their ranking. USA are in 29th placing now.

Argentina FIFA world ranking number one 2007

2007-04-06T01:57:00.000-07:00

Brazil to the FIFA World Ranking always stay number one ranking in the world because of their times of winning the soccer world cups. Italy won the world cups in 2006 beating France in the finals promoted to second place behind the popular country, Brazil. Argentina the world FIFA world ranking taking third place after the world cup are now the favourite in FIFA world ranking. Staying number one ranking in the FIFA world ranking for the first time beating brazil and Italy having 1616 points.Italy remains in second place with a point of 1592 and Brazil all times number one drops to third place having secure 1557 points

England one of the best country to watch them playing soccer drops from fifth place to six place because of their poor performers during this european match only secure 1339 points, France in forth with 1515 points, Germany in fifth with 1390, follow by Holland 1313, Portugal 1288, Czech rep 1195 and ten place is Spain with 1161 points.

The others evelven sports to twenty are as follows Ukraine 1037, Croatia 982, Greece 961, Romania 919, Sweden 914, Scothland 911, Switzerland 906, Cameroon 893, Ghana 881 and Ivory Coast 875.

South Africa 19th FIFA world cup

2006-12-13T01:20:00.000-08:00

In the year 2010 South Africa will be the host of 19th FIFA world cup and is the first time that the FIFA world cup is held in a African continent. After one round of voting, the winning bid was announced by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at a media conference on May 15 2004 in Zurich. South Africa 14 votes was awarded the rights to host the tournament, defeating Morocco having 10 votes and Egypt.

Ten venue choosen by FIFA world cup to be held in South Africa is 1) Cape Town African Renaissance Stadium, 2) Johannesburg Soccer City, 3) Durban King Senzangakhona Stadium, 4) Port Elizabeth Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, 5) Johannesburg Ellis Park Stadium, 6) Pretoria Loftus Versfeld Stadium, 7) Nelspruit Mbombela Stadium, 8) Rustenburg Royal Bafokeng Stadium, 9) Bloemfontein Free State Stadium, 10) Polokwane Peter Mokaba Stadium

The best player in world in 2006

2006-11-09T06:15:00.000-08:00

When coming to select the player of the year all nations, clubs and players will start to think about who deserves to be the sports personality of the year. Ronaldinho is still the best choice to win the awards in 2006.

Always putting a smile in his face when playing soccer, Ronaldinho is still rated the best player in world by FIFA world ranking and admire and support by his fan and supporters with his soccer tricks, clips and passing. Last year voted the best players of the year by FIFA WORLD RANKING playing for Barcelona, his team mate Eto was second runners up while chelsea player Lampard was runners up in 2005.

Present ranking do not reflect strengths of the national teams.

2006-10-11T00:34:00.000-07:00

The ranking system was most recently revamped after the 2006 World Cup, with the first edition of the new series of rankings issued on July 12, 2006. The most significant change is that the rankings are now based on results over the previous four years instead of the previous eight years. The change is perceived to respond to criticisms that the rankings do not effectively reflect the relative strengths of the national teams.

From today's FIFA world ranking we see alot of changes from positions to positions as point alloted from game their play in the international match, win-3, draw-1 or lose.

Italy after their won the world cups up to second position but now down to fifth spots behind England who never won any international this four years.

Brazil remains number one no dough their are five times world champion but their play less international compare to europe country. Argentina is another country still remains number 3 in the world but not a very good team compare to the time of Diago Maranonia. FRANCE NO 2 taking the place from Italy after the september ranking. Czech is up to 7 place and Spain down to 10th.

FIFA World Ranking for September 2006

2006-10-03T02:32:00.000-07:00

Current info about FIFA World Ranking is not always the easiest thing to locate. Fortunately, this report includes the latest fifa world ranking info available.

Since the change to the FIFA World Ranking procedure which came into effect in August 2006 the rankings will no longer take into account the last eight years of results only the last four years of results.

The FIFA World Rankings for September 2006, Brazil remain top, followed by France and Argentina. England are up to the heady heights of fourth. Italy the world champion in 2006 and fifa world ranking number 2 after they won the cup are down to fifth place.

6 Netherlands, 7 Czech Republic 8 Germany 9 Portugal 10 Spain . These are the top ten FIFA World Ranking for September 2006.
Malaysia are in 148th position, Japan are up to 47th position. South Korea occupy 49th position. The USA drop to 29th.

Fifa world ranking- Brazil still no.1

2006-09-21T23:45:00.000-07:00

This year 2006 world cup finals are being held in Germany and it promises to be a very exciting and entertaining event. The tournament which only takes place every four years is in my opinion the biggest sporting event which takes place. It means everything to all of the players taking part as well as to the supporters.

Italy won the world cup this year and is Fifa world ranking number 2 behind Brazil.

USA is one disappointing teams losing to Czechs 3-0, drawing to Italy the eventually world chamption 1-1 and finally lost to Ghana 2-1. After the first round exit the American soccer team fell from 5th to 16th in the FIFA World rankings.

England is one best team to watch. They play a very good attacking and defence game
but lack the finish touch and their poor penalty takker.

Brazil is one of the team to watch but lost to France in the semi.

This year world cup we saw all the the European country in the semi and the final.

FIFA World Ranking : Italy is now world no. 2 in racking

2006-09-13T02:42:00.000-07:00

Italy became fifa world ranking numbers two after won the fifa world cup in the year 2006 by beating France 2-0 in the finals. Brazil still remains world ranking numbers one after losing to France in the semi-finals. Germany as a host losing to Italy in the semi-finals and beating portugal for third placing stay in 9th position.

Argentina stays in third placing follows by France 4th, England 5th, Holland 6th, Spain 7th, Portugal 8th, Germany 9th and 10th placing Czech Republic.

U.S.A drop to 23 position and Japan occopy 48th position after friendy match against Tri and Tob.

FIFA World Ranking : Growth follows investment in grassroots

2006-09-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

From cannon fodder to credible opponents, Lithuania's reputation as a football nation is growing by the day. Saturday's 1-1 draw with Italy was another benchmark of the dramatic progress they have made, but there are plenty of others.
Three and a half years ago, when Berti Vogts' side lost 1-0 in Kaunas, Lithuania were 97th in the FIFA world rankings compared to Scotland's 59. A steady improvement under Walter Smith has brought Scotland up 19 places to 40, but Lithuania have shown even greater signs of progress, jumping 32 places to 65th.

Liutauras Varanavicius, the president of the Lithuanian FA, welcomed the improvement at national level but feels the most significant work is being done at grassroots in a country where basketball has historically been the main sport.
"People who are working inside football can see the great progress we have made," he said. "The effect has been felt not only in our ranking, but in the standard of coaching and the development of players.
"We have managed to increase participation levels by 40% over the last four years and last year they [participation levels]

reached the same as basketball for the first time.
"Those who are playing in the national team are products of long-term investment which was undertaken before independence. But the products of the work we have done in recent years are seen in our 14 and 15-year-olds, of whom the standard is very high."
Government-funded training facilities and investment has been the bedrock of Lithuania's development and the country has started to make its name as an exporter of talent. Around half of the squad play overseas, including four Hearts players – Saulius Mikoliunas, Deividas Cesnauskis, Marius Zaliukas and Edgaras Jankauskas, who is the country's most famous export, but will miss out tonight through injury.

Copyright © 2006 Newsquest (Herald & Times)

FIFA World Ranking : Dominican Republic plan for the future 2

2006-09-05T21:12:00.000-07:00

The sport that enjoys huge popular appeal is baseball, unsurprising given that more than a hundred Dominican peloteros are presently lighting up the Big Leagues in the USA. After that comes basketball, volleyball, athletics, and only then football. "Although that's the reality," says Guzmán, "in Venezuela, another country with a huge baseball culture, football has made inroads. I believe it will happen here too."

Support and encouraging signs
Local officials, working tirelessly to accelerate the growth of football in the Dominican Republic, have found an ally and helping hand in FIFA. In 2005, under the auspices of FIFA's Com-Unity Programme, delegates agreed on the need for better marketing and communication initiatives to develop the sport. Speaking at the time, Guzmán said: "This (programme) will mark a watershed in the history of our football."

Early signs of progress can be seen in the development of the national U-20 side, who have just qualified for the second phase of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup to be held in Canada next year. Particularly impressive have been Kerbi Rodríguez and Jonathan Fana, two talented youngsters with bright futures. Unfortunately, the team's success has generated little interest in the local media.

Current national team coach Ljubomir Crnokrak is also aware of what the sport is up against. "It's clear that we lack financial resources, but these youngsters have real quality. The potential for Dominican football is enormous. Yet for all of that, the papers give us no coverage. Even one or two lines a week would be an additional motivation for the players," said the Croat.

Despite a lack of friendlies, the Quisqueyanos are confidently looking ahead to the Copa Caribe Digicel 2007, which serves as the qualifying tournament for the CONCACAF Gold Cup USA 2007. In their first-round Group C games, scheduled for 26-30 September, the team will take on Bermuda (http://25worldcountry.blogspot.com/
), the British Virgin Islands (167th) and the US Virgin Islands (193rd). To keep their qualifying dreams alive, they must finish among the top two. Long term, though, their goal remains a historic first appearance at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

© 2002-2005 NoticiasB2B, S.L.

FIFA World Ranking : Dominican Republic plan for the future 1

2006-09-05T21:07:00.000-07:00

FIFA World Ranking : Player of the Day

2006-08-31T23:14:00.000-07:00

Player of the Day
Andrea Pirlo - such cultured skills emanating from midfield
It caused barely a ripple in Italy’s assured stride. Their passes were sticking, their tackles hitting home. Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso had established command of midfield while down the right Gianluca Zambrotta and Camoranesi combined impressively.

It was Camoranesi’s persistence and tight control near the touchline that forced the corner that yielded the 19th-minute equaliser. Pirlo’s delivery was inch-perfect and Materazzi powered his header home.

Just at that moment the sun had reappeared from behind a cloud to throw light on Italy’s spirited recovery and stoke up the temperatures inside the arena. Henry began to emerge as a key performer, seemingly impossible to shrug off the ball, and that also brought the best out of the dynamic newcomer Frank Ribery.

France came close on several occasions and in extra time Zidane would have scored with a header had Buffon not denied him. The night was soon to take an even more devastating turn for Zizou, a moment of madness ensuring that his retirement began at least nine minutes earlier than it should have done.

Goal of the Day
Fabio Grosso - such coolness under pressure
Trezeguet’s miss meant that as Grosso stepped up for the long walk from the half-way line the world was in his hands. A no-nonsense left-foot strike into the right-hand corner of the net underlined the contribution the Palermo defender has made to the Italian cause this past month. After a gap of 24 years they were world champions once more.
FIFA World Ranking

Copyright © 2006 FIFA. All rights reserved.

FIFA World Ranking : Moment of the Day

2006-08-31T23:06:00.000-07:00

Mauro Camoranesi consoles David Trezeguet There was irony in the failure of Trezeguet whose penalty – France's second - crashed against the crossbar and refused to cross the line. It was Trezeguet who struck the Golden Goal when the sides met in the final of UEFA EURO 2000 and left a scar that Italy had waited six long years to heal.
Trezeguet's pain now mirrored that of the famed Italians, Franco Baresi and Roberto Baggio, who had missed in 1994 and handed the FIFA World Cup to Brazil in the first, and hitherto only, penalty shoot-out in the Final. At the end his Juventus team-mate Mauro Camoranesi went to him and hugged him in sympathy.

What a start we had with Thierry Henry’s first touch resulting in a heavy collision with Cannavaro. As he lay prostrate France wondered if their hopes were about to be stilled as well. The stretcher was called but their three-goal marksman was able to continue.

Henry’s next involvement was to head on Fabien Barthez’s long kick, prompting Florent Malouda to accelerate into the heart of the Italian rearguard where Materazzi brought him down. Zidane’s seventh-minute penalty was nonchalant, a featherweight chip coming down off the underside bar and only just over the line.

At a stroke Zidane joined the list of players to have scored in more than one FIFA World Cup Final - a list that also includes Pele, Vava and Paul Breitner.
FIFA World Ranking

Copyright © 2006 FIFA. All rights reserved.

FIFA World Ranking : Italy hold their nerve to claim fourth crown

2006-08-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

THE FINAL DAY REPLAYED: Fabio Cannavaro, a player who has belied his diminutive stature with some giant performances this past month, fittingly closed the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ by holding the biggest prize in football aloft. Fireworks proclaiming a fourth FIFA World Cup for Italy exploded into the black skies above the Olympiastadion as the Azzurri party began, leaving France – and a disconsolate Zinedine Zidane – to their own thoughts.
What an occasion the 18th Final produced with excitement at the start and incredible drama at the end as Zidane, on his farewell to the game he has dignified for so long with his graceful skill, was shown the red card. On it went to a penalty showdown and five unerring Italian spot-kicks delivered them the title of world champions, with David Trezeguet the luckless player to miss. With Fabio Grosso converting, his country edged one Trophy behind Brazil in the pantheon of FIFA World Cup winners.

Zidane will remember this night for as long as he lives. France had promised to repeat their success of 1998 for their retiring captain and only he will know what possessed him when he thrust his forehead into the chest of Marco Materazzi. Zidane had to go, accompanied down the tunnel by the glare of thousands and thousands of flash bulbs and the tears of the legions of French supporters.

“Allez les Blues” they had chorused again and again. The Blues came through all right but it was the blue of Italy that held sway. France were wearing white but what colour they added to the occasion with their stirring comeback after Marcello Lippi’s side had threatened to put a stranglehold on the game.

Copyright © 2006 FIFA. All rights reserved.

FIFA World Ranking : Brazil named World's Best team by FIFA

2006-08-28T00:51:00.000-07:00

Zurich, Switzerland (Sports Network) - At the FIFA World Player Gala in Madrid on December 17, in addition to honoring the three top male and female players of the year, FIFA will once again recognize the outstanding achievements of national teams in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.

This year’s FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking team awards go to World Champions Brazil (Team of the Year) and Senegal (Mover of the Year) -- one of the surprise packages at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

As well as winning this year’s FIFA World Cup, the Seleçao have also regained top spot in the world ranking from France and built a clear lead ahead of the chasing pack. Brazil were also named Team of the Year from 1994 to 1999.

Meanwhile, the West Africans, who made it to the last eight at the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals, thus propelling them into the world’s top 30 teams, have gained no less than 100 points (and 40 ranking places) in the last year -- more than any other team at this level. Senegal are the third African winners of the FIFA Mover of the Year title, after South Africa in 1996 and Nigeria in 1999.

The gala will also see the presentation of the FIFA Fair Play Award. This year, the prize will be shared by the football communities of Korea and Japan. With their infectious exuberance, abundant enthusiasm, warm hospitality and above all their extremely fair and amicable conduct, the football fans of the two host nations played a pivotal role in the overwhelming success of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

©2006 The Sports Network. All Rights Reserved.

FIFA World Ranking : Iran move up 2 spots

2006-08-28T00:45:00.000-07:00

With only 24 'A' international matches played in the past month, August's FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking sees no change in the top 15. Brazil lead, with Italy (2nd), Argentina (3rd), France (4th) and England (5th) completing the top 5.
FIFA

Noticeable changes occur further down the ranking; Mexico (16th, up 2) make their mark as top CONCACAF team, whilst rivals USA fall seven places to 23rd. Several other teams from the North and Central American and Caribbean region also slide down the ranking, namely Honduras (81st, down 43), Canada (82nd, down 28) and Panama (98th, down 39), mainly due to the devaluation of significant 2005 Gold Cup matches in the calculation over the past few weeks.

Teams making a welcome return to the top 50 are Norway (49th, up 3) and Guatemala (50th, up 3), the Central Americans marking their best ever ranking position this month. Other noteworthy winners in August, climbing more than ten places, are Qatar (64th, up 12), Guyana (120th, up 11), Namibia (137th, up 30) and the Dominican Republic (171st, up 15).

The revised ranking calculation, introduced for the first time in July 2006, has led to more movement in the ranking table. Key factors having an effect include the reduction in time period evaluated from eight years to four, the weighting of point-laden FIFA World Cup™ matches and the more intense devaluation rate of matches that are more than a year old.

Â© 1997-2006 Iran Sports Press

FIFA World Ranking : FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking

2006-08-28T00:41:00.000-07:00

For some nations, moving up the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking to position number 171 would be of little significance. But for all those working to help the beautiful game grow in the Dominican Republic, the news is encouraging, particularly for those dreaming of one day seeing their beloved Quisqueyanos at the finals of a FIFA World Cup™.

The President of the Dominican Football Federation (DFF), Osiris Guzmán, has said on numerous occasions: "If Haiti can reach the World Cup, then we can too." It was thus in 2004, after the national team had crashed out of the qualifiers for Germany 2006 at the hands of eventual finalists Trinidad and Tobago, that Guzmán laid the foundation stone of a ten-year plan aimed at qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Teething troubles
One of the main problems with football in the Caribbean nation is that it is a relatively new sport and still to flourish at grassroots level. With the DFF founded as recently as 1953 and only affiliated to FIFA in 1959, it was not until 1965 that football reached the schools and playing grounds of the Dominican Republic, thanks in the main to the efforts of Fortunato Quispe Mendoza. From an infrastructure standpoint, it was also Mendoza who established the various playing categories and set up the country's first division championship.

In spite of these efforts, today football remains the country's fifth most popular sport. As well as being a relatively new discipline for the Dominicans, efforts to nurture the sport have not been helped by the lack of success of the national team, who have still to qualify for any tournament of significance at either senior or youth level, and a national league that struggles to attract a viewing audience or fan base.

The sport that enjoys huge popular appeal is baseball, unsurprising given that more than a hundred Dominican peloteros are presently lighting up the Big Leagues in the USA. After that comes basketball, volleyball, athletics, and only then football. "Although that's the reality," says Guzmán, "in Venezuela, another country with a huge baseball culture, football has made inroads. I believe it will happen here too."

Support and encouraging signs
Local officials, working tirelessly to accelerate the growth of football in the Dominican Republic, have found an ally and helping hand in FIFA. In 2005, under the auspices of FIFA's Com-Unity Programme, delegates agreed on the need for better marketing and communication initiatives to develop the sport. Speaking at the time, Guzmán said: "This (programme) will mark a watershed in the history of our football."

Early signs of progress can be seen in the development of the national U-20 side, who have just qualified for the second phase of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup to be held in Canada next year. Particularly impressive have been Kerbi Rodríguez and Jonathan Fana, two talented youngsters with bright futures. Unfortunately, the team's success has generated little interest in the local media.

Current national team coach Ljubomir Crnokrak is also aware of what the sport is up against. "It's clear that we lack financial resources, but these youngsters have real quality. The potential for Dominican football is enormous. Yet for all of that, the papers give us no coverage. Even one or two lines a week would be an additional motivation for the players," said the Croat.

Despite a lack of friendlies, the Quisqueyanos are confidently looking ahead to the Copa Caribe Digicel 2007, which serves as the qualifying tournament for the CONCACAF Gold Cup USA 2007. In their first-round Group C games, scheduled for 26-30 September, the team will take on Bermuda (160th in the rankings), the British Virgin Islands (167th) and the US Virgin Islands (193rd). To keep their qualifying dreams alive, they must finish among the top two. Long term, though, their goal remains a historic first appearance at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

© 2002-2005 NoticiasB2B, S.L.

FIFA World Ranking : Biography of Pele

2006-08-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

Pele was the greatest soccer player ever, scoring over 1200 goals in a glittering career that also brought World Cup and World Club Championships. The biography of Pele is a tough act to follow for any modern world cup players !

When soccer fans talk about the greatest player of all time you will debate the skills of Pele, Maradona, Best and some other soccer legends but can anyone match the amazing biography of Pele ? Pele scored an amazing 1281 goals in a career that covered 1360 games ! That is nearly an average of one goal per game !

History of Pele

Pele was a nickname from childhood as the Brazilian soccer star's real name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, the nickname originated from school . Pele was the youngest player ever to win a soccer world cup winners medal when Brazil won the 1958 world cup as a 17 year old. Pele scored 2 goals in the world cup final at the age of 17 , an achivement that is unlikely to be matched ever in world cup history.

Pele was brought up in a poor part of Brazil and was guided by his father who was also a professional soccer player, his father once scored five headed goals in the one match ! . Pele played for Santos of Brazil and was part of the winning 1962 and 1963 Inter Continential championship winning squad ( World Club Championship ) .

Pele was also part of the 1962 world cup winning squad but injury hampered his appearances and this was also the case in the 1966 England world cup as some brutal tactics put him out of the tournament and Brazil also failed to retain their trophy.

Brazil 1970 World Cup winners

However the 1970 world cup in Mexico will always be a special memory for Pele fans as he inspired Brazil to a famous victory. The 1970 world cup was a festival of football with a Brazil team that was a joy to watch. Even many years on you will still see the famous Pele video clips and goals as he sold the keeper that famous " dummy" and also scored with a brilliant header in the 1970 world cup final against Italy. Pele later went on to confirm that this was a special goal as it was also Brazil's 100th world cup goal.

Pele retired from international football but made a comeback to sign a money spinning contract with the New York Cosmos in the American soccer league. Pele was part of the 1977 championship winning side and the average crowds increased by over 80% in the few years that he graced the American soccer scene.

If you study the biography of Pele and watch Pele video clips and goals you will no doubt agree that he was a soccer genius, he could play with either foot and could spring in the air to score headers despite his small size compared to defenders. pele was quick, strong and one of the very best goalscorers.
FIFA World Ranking

By Kevin McNally

FIFA World Ranking : The All Time Greatest Soccer Player

2006-08-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

The sport of soccer, known as football to most of the world, has produced some great soccer players over the past years. Perhaps the most famous of all is Pelé, who amazed the world with his incredible ability to maneuver the ball in a way it hadn’t been done before. Pelé retired more than twenty five years ago but he is still a household name on the lips of soccer players and fans around the world. His story of rising from poverty in Brazil to soccer superstar is a source of inspiration for young soccer players everywhere.

Another soccer great is Pavel Nedved. Pavel is well known both in his homeland of the Czech Republic and around the world as one of the youngest soccer players of all time to make a lasting impression. Pavel played for Sparta in the 1990’s and scored many goals for the team from 1992 to 1995.

The world has seen many players who have been the focus of extreme soccer skills, but none so well known as Zinedine Zidane. Zidane was born in Algeria in 1972 and after struggling in school for several years he decided that soccer was his main interest. He was spotted at the age of sixteen by a soccer scout and very quickly found himself in Cannes. Shortly after that Zidane was playing for the French Division, scoring goal after goal and becoming the star of the team.

Today one of the most popular soccer players is David Beckham, who is the star of Great Britain when it comes to the game. At sixteen Beckham was playing for Manchester United team and was already attracting the attention of soccer scouts around the world. Beckham’s incredible talent found him on England’s World Cup Team in 1997. His handsome looks and boyish attitude make him one of Britain’s favorite celebrities.

The world of soccer continues to give us up and coming stars, but none can ever rival the status that the above players have earned.
FIFA World Ranking
By James Hunt

FIFA World Ranking : Ronaldinho the Soccer Player

2006-08-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

As the soccer world cup approaches every fan is looking forward to watching the genius knowns as Ronaldinho the soccer player.

Every young boy dreams to be as good as Ronaldinho the soccer player. Ronaldinho is the best player in the world and plays soccer with a smile on his face !

Ronaldinho the soccer player is known as the best soccer player in the world. Ronaldinho video clips and soccer tricks are being sent online as soccer fans marvel at his skills.

History of Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho the soccer player became known as " little Ronaldo " in Portugese in order to distinguish himself from the other famous Brazilian, Ronaldo. Ronaldinho's real name is actually Ronaldo de Assis Moreira and he is widely known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho in his native Brazil.

In his childhood Ronaldinho the soccer player was a star at Futsol and beach soccer and he then moved onto Brazilian club Gremio before moving to Paris SG.

His performance as part of the winning Brazil World cup squad in 2002 attracted the interest of bigger clubs and he moved on to FC Barcelona for £18 million.

Ronaldinho Profile

Club Awards

Spanish La Liga: 2004-05 , 2005-06
Champions League 2005-06
Spanish Super Cup: 2005-06 with Barcelona
International Awards

Under-17 World Cup 1996-97
Copa America: 1998-99 2004-05
FIFA World Cup: 2002
Confederations Cup: 2004-05

Ronaldinho has also won many individual awards including World player of the year and European footballer of the year.

When you watch Ronaldinho movie and video clips you will be amazed at the skill, even his official adverts for Nike are a joy to watch !

Some soccer players earn the respect of opposition fans and Ronaldinho scored two brilliant individual goals for Barcelona away to their closest rivals Real Madrid and the Madrid fans saluted Ronaldinho with a standing ovation despite Real Madrid suffering a 3-0 defeat.

The profile of Ronaldinho is impressive and there is no doubt that Ronaldinho the soccer player will be regarded as one of the greatest ever.
FIFA World Ranking player
By Kevin McNally

FIFA World Ranking : Portugal have cause for pride

2006-08-13T23:17:00.000-07:00

As everyone in football knows, two games do not make or break a team and so it has proved with Luiz Felipe Scolari's Portugal.
After a glorious FIFA World Cup™ campaign, a semi-final defeat by France and a 3-0 reverse against hosts Germany left the Portuguese in fourth place and still waiting for that elusive first Final appearance. A sad homecoming would follow, you might think, but not a bit of it, as the rapturous reception afforded Scolari's returning heroes made only too clear.

Pride and patriotic fervour were the order of the day in Lisbon as the players made their way to the National Stadium to the acclaim of thousands of supporters who lined the streets of the country’s capital. Inside, each of the Portugal players came forward to receive his own personal ovation and the gratitude of the nation.

For the coach, however, the crowd reserved a special request. “Stay, stay,” they chanted, urging the Brazilian to extend his contract. Their pleas may not be in vain since, according to speculation in the media, Felipão could be ready to sign on for two more years at the helm of his adopted country.

For his part, Scolari told his adoring public that the national team could produce an even better showing in four years’ time. But it was the present, not the future, that the crowd wanted to enjoy. “Champions, champions, we are the champions,” they sang. And to an extent, they were, in terms of their endeavour, their determination, and their sheer will to win.

Nobody could have predicted just how far Portugal would go as they set about negotiating Group D in early June. In their opening fixture, a game of huge historical significance against their former colony Angola, it took a goal from Pauleta to seal the points and hand the Palancas Negras their only defeat of the tournament. Scolari’s men then guaranteed qualification for the knockout stages with a comfortable 2-0 win against Iran, and a 100 per cent record was sealed with a 2-1 victory over a dangerous Mexico side.
But fate had conspired to hand Portugal a potentially tough passage through to the semi-finals. Next they faced the Netherlands in the Round of 16. A fiery encounter was settled by a wonder goal from midfield star Maniche, as two players from each side were dismissed. Another familiar old foe in the shape of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s England lay in wait in the quarter-finals, just two years on from their meeting at the same stage of UEFA EURO 2004.

Once again, there was little to separate the sides, and the penalty shoot-out lottery beckoned. As in Lisbon two years earlier, charismatic goalkeeper Ricardo again emerged the Portuguese hero, saving three English spot-kicks as he put his country through to their first FIFA World Cup semi-final for 40 years.
Portugal are now FIFA World Ranking number 8

Copyright © 2006 FIFA. All rights reserved.

FIFA World Ranking : The New FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking

2006-08-13T23:14:00.000-07:00

Since its introduction in August 1993, the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking has become a regular part of international sports reports and an important indicator for FIFA's member associations to find out where their respective teams stand in world football’s pecking order and how they are progressing.
Nevertheless, the increasingly high profile of the world ranking has also brought a certain amount of criticism that its calculation formula is too complicated. It was therefore decided in 2005 to revise the ranking in order to simplify the way in which it is calculated.
A multinational group comprising FIFA staff and external experts was subsequently formed to find a new procedure for drawing up the world ranking. Extensive tests and assessments were then carried out, which - following a number of presentations - reached their conclusion at the end of 2005.

Transparency and simplicity - the key principles guiding the revision - have been combined with sporting criteria (i.e. the reality of world football) and statistical requirements to establish the new and simplified method of calculation that the FIFA Executive Committee ratified at its meeting in Leipzig, Germany, on 7 December 2005.

The most important change to the calculation of the ranking is that it will no longer take into account the last eight years of results but only four. At the same time, all of the other factors previously taking into account (result, importance of match, strength of opponents, regional strength, number of matches considered) were tested, analysed and, in some cases, totally revised. In fact, two of the factors that were previously used (goals scored and home advantage) will no longer have any impact on the ranking.

The new method will be applied immediately after the FIFA World Cup™, namely, when the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking appears on 12 July 2006.

Copyright © 1994 - 2006 FIFA. All rights reserved

FIFA World Ranking : Who Will Win The Fifa World Cup?

2006-08-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

Many people, including myself are starting to look forward to the world cup of football. The question many people are asking is who is likely to win the tournament? In this article, I give my own viewpoint on this subject and discuss some of the likely contenders (teams) who could win.

The world cup finals are being held in Germany and it promises to be a very exciting and entertaining event. The tournament which only takes place every four years is in my opinion the biggest sporting event which takes place. It means everything to all of the players taking part as well as to the supporters.

Potential winners of the football world cup

Germany

The hosts Germany are always a big threat in the world cup and have an outstanding record in the tournament. The team seems to peak at just the right time and as they are playing on home soil, they must have a great chance. I personally believe though that Germany will be knocked out in the quarter-finals. I think that their best player is Micheal Ballack.

France

The French team have had an outstanding decade and still boast some of the best players in the world. Players like Henry can turn a game in an instant and he is just one of a few players which I could mention.

France should do well but I do not believe have enough to win the tournament.

Holland

I must say that Holland are one team which I love to watch playing football. They approach the game in the right way and their supporters make it a very colourful occasion.

Despite having many top players, Holland always seem to flatter to deceive and this could well be the case this year.

If my home team of England does not win the world cup, I would love to see the Dutch lift the trophy.

Spain

Spain in a way are very much like Holland in that they always seem to fall short despite having many superb players.

On their day the Spanish team can beat the best in the world and should come close this year.

I personally believe that Spain will be knocked out in a penalty shoot out, this is what normally happens to them.

Portugal

After just failing to win the European football championship, Portugal with their Brazilian manager Scolari, will be hoping to go one better in the world cup. It came as quite a shock when Greece beat them in the Final two years ago and this defeat might play on their minds when the pressure is on.

England

Being from England myself, I am obviously hoping that my home nation can lift the trophy for the first time since 1966.

England certainly have enough talent in the team but something always seems to go wrong.

Wayne Rooney has the potential of being the best player at the world cup and if he can stay fit, England will have a great chance.

I personally believe that the English will be eliminated in the semi-finals.

Italy

The Italians have a number of superb footballers but my only concern for them is that they do not always play as a team.

I believe that they should have won a lot more tournaments over the last twenty years and I do not think that they will win this year either.

Brazil

Brazil as FIFA World Ranking number one are by far and away the best team in the tournament. This is my tip for the team which should win the Fifa world cup.

To win the tournament you require something a little bit special and Brazil certainly have that.

The only way I can see them not winning is if they have a bad run of injuries or a series of red cards. Both of these are highly unlikely.

I hope you all enjoy watching the world cup as much as I will, so lets sit back and enjoy this summer of football

By Steve Hill

FIFA World Ranking : 2006 rankings update

2006-08-07T02:50:00.000-07:00

FIFA announced that the ranking system would be updated following the 2006 World Cup. The evaluation period has been cut from eight to four years and the rankings will be based on a simplified method of calculation.[2] Goals scored and home or away advantage is no longer taken into account, and other aspects of the calculations, including the importance attributed to different types of match, have been revised. The revised rankings — and calculation methodology — were announced on 12 July 2006.

This change is rooted at least in part in widespread criticism of the previous ranking system. Many football enthusiasts felt it was inaccurate — especially when compared to other ranking systems — and that it was not sufficiently responsive to changes in the performance of individual teams. The recent and unexpectedly high rankings of teams from the Czech Republic and the United States were generally met with skepticism and negatively affected the credibility of the system in the eyes of many followers of the sport. The poor showings and early exit of these two sides from the 2006 World Cup competition appears to lend some credence to the criticism.

Rank leaders
When the system was introduced, Germany debuted as the top ranked team following their extended period of dominance in which they had reached the three previous http://25worldcountry.blogspot.com/
finals, winning one of them. Brazil took the lead in the run up to the 1994 FIFA World Cup, after winning eight and losing only one of nine qualification matches, while on the way scoring twenty goals and conceding just four. Italy then led for a short time on the back of their own equally successful World Cup qualifying campaign, after which the top place was re-claimed by Germany.

Brazil's success in their lengthy qualifying campaign returned them to the lead for a brief period. Germany led again during the 1994 World Cup, until Brazil’s victory in that competition gave them a large lead that would stand up for nearly seven years, until they were surpassed by a strong France team that captured both the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2000 European Football Championship. Success at the 2002 FIFA World Cup restored Brazil to the top position, where they have remained ever since on the strength of a Copa América 2004 victory and their continued dominant play.[3] Italy rise to second following their FIFA World Cup victory, and within 100 hundred points of Brazil, who failed to meet expectations in the competition, Italy are possible challengers for the leader position.

Uses of the rankings
The rankings are used by FIFA to rank the progression and current ability of the national football teams of its member nations. The data is used by FIFA for very few things, as FIFA says they are only to create "a reliable measure for comparing national A-teams".[1] However, one task they are used for is as part of the calculation to seed competitions.[4] The rankings are also used to determine the winners of the two annual awards national teams receive on the basis of their performance in the rankings.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

FIFA World Ranking : 1999 ranking update

2006-08-07T02:40:00.000-07:00

When the FIFA World rankings were initially introduced, a team received one point for a draw and three for a victory in FIFA-recognized matches - much the same as a traditional league scoring system. This was a quite simplistic approach, however, and FIFA quickly realised that there were many factors affecting international matches. In order to meet the objective of fairly and accurately comparing the relative strengths of various national sides, the system was updated.

The major changes were as follows:

the point ranking was scaled up by a factor of ten
the method of calculation was changed to take into account factors including:
the number of goals scored or conceded
whether the match was played at home or away
the importance of a match or competition
regional strength
a fixed number of points were no longer necessarily awarded for a victory or a draw
match losers were able to earn points

Two new awards were introduced as part of the system:

Team of the Year
Best Mover of the Year
The changes made the ranking system more complex, but helped improve its accuracy by making it more comprehensive.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

FIFA World Ranking: Italy-rank 2 as July 2006

2006-08-07T02:29:00.000-07:00

The Italian national football team is the national association football team of Italy and is governed by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC - Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio). They are the current World Champions, having won the most recent FIFA World Cup.

Italy is the second most successful national team in World Cup play, having won four World Cups (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), just one fewer than Brazil. To this tally they can add one European championship (1968), and one Olympic Gold Medal (1936).

The traditional colour of the national team (as well as of all Italian teams and athletes, except in motor sports) is sky blue[1] (azzurro, in Italian), and therefore national team members are nicknamed Azzurri.

Coaches

During the earliest days of Italian nation football, it was common for a Technical Commission to be appointed. The Commission took the role that a standard coach would currently play. Since 1967, the national team has been controlled only by coaches.

For this reason, the coach of the Italian national team is still called Technical Commissioner (Commissario tecnico o CT).

Technical Commission (1910–1912)
Vittorio Pozzo (1912)
Technical Commission (1912–1924)
Vittorio Pozzo (1924)
Technical Commission (1924–1925)
Augusto Rangone (1925–1928)
Carlo Carcano (1928–1929)
Vittorio Pozzo (1929–1948) — World Champions 1934, World Champions 1938
Ferruccio Novo (1949–1950) — as Technical Commission Chairman
Technical Commission (1951)
Carlino Beretta (1952–1953)
Technical Commission (1953–1959)
Giuseppe Viani (1960)
Giovanni Ferrari (1960–1961)
Technical Commission (1962)
Edmondo Fabbri (1962–1966)
Technical Commission (1966–1967)
Ferruccio Valcareggi (1967–1974) — European Champions 1968, Runners-Up World Cup 1970
Fulvio Bernardini (1974–1975)
Enzo Bearzot (1975–1986) — World Champions 1982
Azeglio Vicini (1986–1991) — 3rd Place World Cup 1990
Arrigo Sacchi (1991–1996) — Runners-Up World Cup 1994
Cesare Maldini (1997–1998)
Dino Zoff (1998–2000) — Runners-Up European Championships 2000
Giovanni Trapattoni (2000–2004)
Marcello Lippi (2004–2006) — World Champions 2006
Roberto Donadoni (2006-current)

2006-08-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

FIFA World Ranking : World Cup 2006

The 18th FIFA World Cup games took place June 9–July 9, 2006, with multitudes of fans tuning in to the game the Americans know as "soccer" and most of the world calls "football."

The World Cup games — also known by the French name "Mondial" — were played at stadiums around Germany, opening in Munich's new Allianz Arena and closing in Berlin's reconstructed Olympic Stadium. Other German cities that hosted the games are Cologne (Muengersdorfer Stadium), Dortmund (Westfalen Stadium), Frankfurt (Wald Stadium), Gelsenkirchen (Arena AufSchalke), Hamburg (Stadium Hamburg), Hanover (Niedersachsen Stadium), Kaiserslautern (Fritz-Walter Stadium), Leipzig (Zentral Stadium), Nuremberg (Franken Stadium) and Stuttgart (Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium).

Ticket prices for this year's games ran from about $45 (EU35) to about $775 (EU600).

Qualifying tournaments in each of the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, and Europe) determine which teams will play in the World Cup games. Competing teams are divided into 8 groups. In 2006 the groups were divided thus:

Group A: Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador
Group B: England, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden
Group C: Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro, The Netherlands
Group D: Mexico, Iran, Angola, Portugal
Group E: Italy, Ghana, USA, Czech Republic
Group F: Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan
Group G: France, Switzerland, S. Korea, Togo
Group H: Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia
These groups play a round-robin tournament, with the top two teams from each group advancing to a second stage, known as the knockout stage. At this point, teams play against each other in one-off competitions, with teams being eliminated until the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. The losing semifinalists also play to determine third place.

A Little Bit of History

There are drawings and depictions of men playing a game that resembled football as far back as 200 BCE in China. Written records describe a game where a ball is kicked at a "ball wall" or goal.

The first international game was played in 1872; Scotland hosted England. The game, which tied 0-0, was watched by 4,000 people.

Uruguay hosted the first World Cup games in 1930 and became the first nation to win a World Cup, defeating Argentina 4-2. The games are played every four years and have continued to grow in popularity. The 2002 games were a TV-ratings bonanza, with some 30 billion viewings of some or all of the games; Brazil walked away with that year's trophy.

What's a Game Without Rules?

Over the years, the English, in particular, played variations of football and it became a no-holds-barred, undisciplined sport, where the rules varied from club to club, school to school. Games played between schools were often disputed due to a difference in the teams' understanding of the rules. In the 1840s, Cambridge University undergraduates attempted to standardize the rules, and these rules were finally accepted on Oct. 26, 1863, at a meeting of 12 schools and clubs in London's Freemason's Tavern. In 1886, the International Football Association Board was created to see that the rules of the game were upheld. Since Englishmen were assumed to be gentlemen — and it was presumed no player would purposely commit a foul — it wasn't until 1891 that there was such a thing as a penalty. Nets and referees were also made a part of the game that year.

Some of the basic rules that were established included the number of players each team should have and the size of the playing field. Each team consists of at least seven players, but no more than eleven players, one of whom is the goalkeeper. In international games the field is 110-120 yards (100-110 m) long x 70-80 yards (64-75 m) wide; in domestic games the field is 100-130 yards (90-120 m) long x 50-100 yards (45-90 m) wide.

World Cup Winners

Brazil leads the world in World Cup wins, having taken the cup home five times. The list of winners:

Brazil – 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002
Germany – 1954, 1974 and 1990
Italy – 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006
Argentina – 1978 and 1986
Uruguay – 1930 and 1950
England – 1966
France – 1998

Because of World War II, there were no World Cup games in 1942 and 1946.

The Trophy

For the first 40 years, winners of the World Cup received the Jules Rimet Trophy, named for FIFA's first president, Jules Rimet. When Brazil won its third tournament in 1970, it was entitled to keep the cup. A new one was designed and it was decided that the trophy would be passed to the winning country each year, regardless of the number of times a country won; the trophy will be retired when the plaque is filled with names, in 2038.

Official Mascots

This year's mascots are Goleo VI, a human-size lion puppet designed by the US-based Jim Henson Company, and Pille, a talking soccer ball that possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of the game. The two are FIFA's first-ever actual characters that can talk, dance and play music. Previous world cup mascots were artistic renditions, starting with England's World Cup Willie (1966), and ending, so far, with Korea/Japan's Kaz, Ato and Nik (2002).

Copyright © 2006 Answers Corporation. All rights reserved

2006-08-04T11:26:00.000-07:00

FIFA World Ranking : FIFA Women's World Rankings

The FIFA Women's World Rankings for football (soccer) were introduced in July 2003 as a follow-on to the existing FIFA World Rankings for men. FIFA Women's World Rankings attempt to compare the strength of internationally active teams at any given time, as does the men's rankings.

There are several important distinctions in the FIFA Women's World Rankings formula:

FIFA Women's World Rankings are only published four times a year—in March, June, September and December&mdash (men's rankings are published monthly).
FIFA Women's World Rankings are based on every international match a team ever played, going back to 1971, the first FIFA-recognized women's international between France and the Netherlands. (men's considers only matches in the last eight years).
FIFA Women's World Rankings is not weighted to emphasize recent results (men's results are weighted on a sliding scale, emphasizing recent results).
This results in a FIFA Women's World Rankings system which is far more similar to the Elo football rating system, considered a superior formula. Elo ratings converge on a team's true strength, relative to its competitors after about 30 matches. Elo ratings for teams with fewer than 30 matches should be considered provisional.

Top 20 Ranking as of March 2006
Rank Team Points
1 Germany 2219
2 USA 2189
3 Norway 2065
4 Brazil 2053
5 France 2017
6 Sweden 2005
7 North Korea 1999
8 China 1974
9 Denmark 1973
10 Italy 1943
11 Japan 1911
12 Canada 1909
13 England 1908
14 Russia 1887
15 Australia 1866
16 Finland 1841
17 Netherlands 1822
18 Ukraine 1805
18 Iceland 1803
20 Spain 1778

Copyright © 2006 Answers Corporation. All rights reserved

2006-08-04T11:14:00.001-07:00

FIFA World Ranking : History

The FIFA World Rankings were introduced in August 1993 to make it possible to publish comparisons of the relative strengths of internationally active teams at regular intervals.

The rankings obtained are, unsurprisingly, the subject of considerable debate. They are based on performances over an eight year period, which means that teams with consistent good performances are highly ranked, but on the other hand the rankings are fairly slow to respond significantly to changes in form. A number of alternative systems have been devised, such as the World Football ELO Ratings, based on the Elo rating system used in chess. The UFWC (Unofficial Football World Championships) ranks teams on an all-time basis.

History
In August 1993 FIFA introduced a ranking system for senior national teams after calls for a system that gives a fair comparison of the relative strengths of national teams. This system has been used by FIFA ever since, and has had some major changes to the calculation principles in its short history, with the biggest change being implemented in 1999, in order to compete with the Elo ratings which were considered a more accurate depiction of the teams' rankings. However, this reviewed system is still considered inferior to the Elo Ratings. [citation needed]

Overview
The following is an overview of the system used to calculate the rankings.

The FIFA World Ranking is a ranking of all of the senior national teams of all FIFA member associations, and all international matches are counted in the scoring, however depending on their importance, are differently weighted. Also separate rankings are used for junior teams or other representative national sides (such as the women's national team) are not included in the calculation, and mostly there are separate rankings for these, for example the FIFA Women's World Rankings.

When the calculations are made the following factors are taken into consideration:

World Cup finals matches
World Cup preliminary matches
FIFA Confederations Cup matches
Continental championships final matches
Continental championship preliminary matches
Friendly matches
The rankings are produced by a computer program which follows specific criteria on assigning the teams points. The calculations are clearly defined and taken into consideration there are specific factors, they are as follows:

Winning, drawing and losing
Number of goals
Home or away match
Importance of the match (multiplication factor)
Regional strength (multiplication factor)
Note: The system does not take into account margin of victory or loss

Each year the seven best results for each team are the only results given full weighting and progressively less weighting is given to past results year by year until after eight years they are dropped completely. Through this system of diminishing value of past results, the rankings are designed to give a more accurate depiction of current form, than past results.

At the end of each season two awards are given;

Team of the Year goes to the team that scores the overall highest average number of points during the year over the seven matches of the year which are given full weighting.
Best Mover of the year Is awarded to the team which is deemed to have made the best progress in the rankings, over the course of the previous year. However, this is not simply the team which has risen the most places, taken into account is the fact that it becomes progressively harder to score points the higher in the rankings a team is.

Copyright © 2006 Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.

2006-08-01T22:28:00.000-07:00

FIFA World Ranking : The current calculation method

After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, a revised calculation procedure for the FIFA rankings was introduced; it is a significantly simplified procedure. The new rankings were compiled in response to criticism from the media.[1] Meetings were attended by FIFA staff and external experts and a large amount of research was conducted by this group, resulting in the new ranking system.[1] The new system was confirmed in Leipzig on 7 December 2005 by a committee of FIFA executives. Notable changes include the dropping of the home or away advantage and number of goals from the calculation, and the simplification of many aspects of the system.

The system, like the previous ones, is extremely similar to that of a league, though with changes made to ensure that it is still representative of the teams' performance despite playing differing numbers of matches per annum, and the differing strength of opposition that teams have to face. The factors taken into account are as follows:

Match result
Match status
Opposition strength
Regional strength
Matches within the previous four year period are included in the calculation, with more weight given to the more recent years.

Win, draw or defeat
In previous years a complicated system of points allocation was used, depending on how strong the opponent was, and how large the loss margin, which allowed weaker losing teams to gain points when playing a much stronger opposition, if they managed to put up a decent match. With the new system, the points allocation is simpler: three points for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss, in line with most league systems around the world.

In the event of a match being decided by a penalty shootout, the winning team receives two points, and the losing team one point.

Result Points
Win (no penalty shootout) 3
Draw 1
Loss (no penalty shootout) 0
Win (penalty shootout) 2
Loss (penalty shootout) 1

Match status
Different matches have different importance to teams, and FIFA has tried to respect this by using a weighting system, where the most significant matches are in the World Cup finals, and the lowest weighted are friendly matches. FIFA states that it wishes to recognise that friendlies are still important, since they make up of half of the competitive matches counted in the rankings.[12]

The match status multipliers are as follows:

Match status Multiplier
Friendly match x 1.0
FIFA World Cup and Continental cup qualifiers x 2.5
Continental cup and Confederations Cup finals x 3.0
World Cup finals match x 4.0
[edit]
Opposition strength
Obviously, a win against a very highly ranked opponent is a considerably greater achievement than a win against a low-rated opponent, so the strength of the opposing team is a factor.

The new system uses an opposition strength factor based on team rankings. The previous system was based on points difference.

The formula used is:

Opposition strength multiplier = [200 – ranking position]/ 100

Teams ranked 150th and below are assigned the minimum multiplier of 0.50.

Example 1: the opposition team is currently ranked 8th in the world:
(200 – 8) / 100 = 1.92 so the opposition strength multiplier is 1.92

Example 2: the opposition team is currently ranked 125th in the world:
(200 – 125) / 100 = 0.75 so the opposition strength multiplier is 0.75

Example 3: the opposition team is currently ranked 188th in the world:
Below 150th, so the opposition strength multiplier is the minimum 0.50

Regional strength
In addition to the opposition strength multiplier, FIFA considers the relative strength of entire confederations in the calculation. Each confederation is assigned a weighting between 0.85 and 1.0, based on the relative performance of the confederations in qualifying for the last three World Cups. After the 2006 World Cup, the weightings are:

Confederation Weighting
UEFA (Europe) 1.00
CONMEBOL (South America) 0.98
CAF (Africa) 0.85
CONCACAF (North and Central America and Caribbean) 0.85
OFC (Oceania) 0.85
AFC (Asia) 0.85

The multiplier used in the calculation is the average of the regional strength weighting of the two teams:

Regional strength multiplier = [Team 1 regional weighting + Team 2 regional weighting] / 2

Assessment Period
Matches played over the last four years (48 months) are included in the calculation, but there is a weighting to put more emphasis on recent results. Previously an eight year period was used. The date weighting is as follows:

Date of match Multiplier
Within the last 12 months x 1.0
12-24 months ago x 0.5
24-36 months ago x 0.3
36-48 months ago x 0.2

A team must play at least 5 matches per year to be included in the rankings.

Ranking formula
The final ranking points figure is multiplied by 100 and rounded to the nearest whole number.

Ranking points = (Result points) x (Match status multiplier) x (Opposition strength multiplier) x (Regional strength multiplier) x (Date multiplier) x 100

Examples
The following examples use these hypothetical teams and confederations, and assume the games are played within the last 12 months:

Amplistan is currently ranked 2nd in the world and is a member of confederation XYZ (weighting 1.0);
Bestrudia is currently ranked 188th in the world and is a member of confederation ABC (weighting 0.88);
Conesto is currently ranked 39th in the world and is a member of confederation QRS (weighting 0.98);
Delphiz is currently ranked 30th in the world and is a member of confederation HIJ (weighting 0.94).
A friendly match is played between Amplistan and Bestrudia. Amplistan wins 2-1.

Match Team Result points Match status Opposition strength Regional strength Ranking points
Amplistan vs. Bestrudia (friendly)
Result: 2-1 Amplistan
Bestrudia 3
0 1.0
1.0 0.50
1.98 0.94
0.94 141
0

Bestrudia gets no ranking points because it lost the game, so all factors are multiplied by zero.

Amplistan's 141 ranking points are calculated like this:

3 points for the win;
multiplied by 1.0 for match status (friendly match);
multiplied by 0.50 for opposition strength (Bestrudia is ranked 188th, so it has the minimum 0.50 weighting);
multiplied by 0.94 for regional strength (the average of the weightings for the two teams' confederations);
multiplied by 100.
More examples:

Match Team Result points Match status Opposition strength Regional strength Ranking points
Amplistan vs. Bestrudia (friendly)
Result: 1-2 Amplistan
Bestrudia 0
3 1.0
1.0 0.50
1.98 0.94
0.94 0
558
Amplistan vs. Bestrudia (friendly)
Result: 1-1 Amplistan
Bestrudia 1
1 1.0
1.0 0.50
1.98 0.94
0.94 47
186
Amplistan vs. Bestrudia (World Cup finals)
Result: 2-1 Amplistan
Bestrudia 3
0 4.0
4.0 0.50
1.98 0.94
0.94 564
0
Amplistan vs. Bestrudia (World Cup finals)
Result: 1-1 (Bestrudia wins on penalties) Amplistan
Bestrudia 1
2 4.0
4.0 0.50
1.98 0.94
0.94 188
1488
Conesto vs. Delphiz (Continental cup qualifiers)
Result: 4-0 Conesto
Delphiz 3
0 2.5
2.5 1.70
1.61 0.96
0.96 1224
0
Conesto vs. Delphiz (Continental cup qualifiers)
Result: 0-1 Conesto
Delphiz 0
3 2.5
2.5 1.70
1.61 0.96
0.96 0
1159
Conesto vs. Amplistan (World Cup finals)
Result: 0-0 (Amplistan wins on penalties) Conesto
Amplistan 1
2 4.0
4.0 1.98
1.61 0.99
0.99 784
1275

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2006-08-01T22:23:00.000-07:00

FIFA World Ranking : 2006 update

FIFA announced that the ranking system would be updated following the 2006 World Cup. The evaluation period has been cut from eight to four years and the rankings will be based on a simplified method of calculation.[2] Goals scored and home or away advantage is no longer be taken into account, and other aspects of the calculations, including the importance attributed to different types of match, have been revised. The revised rankings — and calculation methodology — were announced on 12 July 2006.

This change is rooted at least in part in widespread criticism of the previous ranking system. Many football enthusiasts felt it was inaccurate — especially when compared to other ranking systems — and that it was not sufficiently responsive to changes in the performance of individual teams. The recent and unexpectedly high rankings of teams from the Czech Republic and the United States were generally met with skepticism and negatively affected the credibility of the system in the eyes of many followers of the sport. The poor showings and early exit of these two sides from the 2006 World Cup competition appears to lend some credence to the criticism.

[edit]
Rank leaders
When the system was introduced, Germany debuted as the top ranked team following their extended period of dominance in which they had reached the three previous FIFA World Cup finals, winning one of them. Brazil took the lead in the run up to the 1994 FIFA World Cup, after winning eight and losing only one of nine qualification matches, while on the way scoring twenty goals and conceding just four. Italy then led for a short time on the back of their own equally successful World Cup qualifying campaign, after which the top place was re-claimed by Germany.

Brazil's success in their lengthy qualifying campaign returned them to the lead for a brief period. Germany led again during the 1994 World Cup, until Brazil’s victory in that competition gave them a large lead that would stand up for nearly seven years, until they were surpassed by a strong France team that captured both the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2000 European Football Championship. Success at the 2002 FIFA World Cup restored Brazil to the top position, where they have remained ever since on the strength of a Copa América 2004 victory and their continued dominant play.[3] Italy rise to second following their FIFA World Cup victory, and within 100 hundred points of Brazil, who failed to meet expectations in the competition, Italy are possible challengers for the leader position.

[edit]
Uses of the rankings
The rankings are used by FIFA to rank the progression and current ability of the national football teams of its member nations. The data is used by FIFA for very few things, as FIFA says they are only to create "a reliable measure for comparing national A-teams".[1] However, one task they are used for is as part of the calculation to seed competitions.[4] The rankings are also used to determine the winners of the two annual awards national teams receive on the basis of their performance in the rankings.

[edit]
Seeding in the 2006 World Cup
Further information: Seeding for 2006 FIFA World Cup
Below is a table showing how the rankings (current and past standings) were used in combination with the previous World Cup performances of national teams, to determine their seeds for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.[5] It uses the points obtained from the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2002 FIFA World Cup averaged in a 1:2 ratio respectively, added to the average amount of points that each team has at three given dates (at ratio 1:1:1), December 2003, December 2004, and November 2005. This generates a view to how well the teams have performed over the last ten years (since the rankings in 2003 include results from eight years previous to that) with a specific focus on how the teams have performed in the FIFA World Cup on previous occasions. If a team did not qualify for the previous two World Cups, their final total will be significantly less, hence the Czech Republic received a low score for seeding, despite being ranked sixth, fourth, and second in the world at the given dates.

Seed Country 1. FIFA World Cup Finals 2. FIFA World Rankings Total Points
France '98
(33.3%) Korea Japan '02
(66.7%) Avg.
Points Dec '03
(33.3%) Dec '04
(33.3%) Nov '05
(33.3%) Avg.
Points
Rk Pt. Rk Pt. Rk Pt. Rk Pt. Rk Pt.
1 Brazil 2 31 1 32 31.7 1 32 1 32 1 32 32.0 64
2 England 9 24 6 27 26.0 8 25 8 25 9 24 24.7 51
3 Spain 17 9 5 28 21.7 3 30 5 28 6 27 28.3 50
. . .
16 Czech Republic - 0 - 0 0.0 6 27 4 29 2 31 29.0 29

Criticism
Since their introduction in 1993, the FIFA World Rankings have been the matter of much debate, particularly regarding the calculation procedure and the resulting disparity between generally perceived quality and world ranking of some teams. For example Norway was ranked second in October 1993 and July-August 1995,[6] and the United States reached fourth, to the surprise of even their own players. [7]

Pre-tournament betting odds for 2006 FIFA World Cup[8][9][10] show enormous discrepancy between the comparative likelihood of victory in the tournament and the FIFA rankings at the beginning of the tournament, particularly for Germany, Ukraine, the USA and Iran. Comparison of one betting table with the rankings list gives Spearman's ρ=0.69.

One thing that has been criticised[11] is that the rankings consider the performances of teams over an eight year period, and that teams' ranking positions do not correlate to their recent performances.[6] This criticism should lessen with the introduction of a new formula, reflecting results over a four year period, from July 2006.

Another problem of the rankings is that a team that directly qualifies for a major tournament will not have the chance to gather points by playing competitive qualifying matches, but can only play friendly matches which are weighted lower.

The perceived flaws in the FIFA system has lead to the creation of a number of alternative rankings from football statisticians[6] including the World Football Elo Ratings and the rec.sport.soccer Statistics Foundation rankings.

FIFA's change of system for calculation of these rankings and their adoption of a different formula for World Cup seedings may be seen as an implicit admission of the shortcomings of the current formula.

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2006-08-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

FIFA World Ranking : FIFA World Rankings

The FIFA World Rankings is a ranking system for men's national teams in football (soccer). The teams of the member nations of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest. A point system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of FIFA-recognized 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.

The ranking system was most recently revamped after the 2006 World Cup, with the first edition of the new series of rankings issued on July 12, 2006. The most significant change is that the rankings are now based on results over the previous four years instead of the previous eight years. The change is perceived to respond to criticisms that the rankings do not effectively reflect the relative strengths of the national teams. (See section Criticism).

Other alternative systems have been devised, such as the World Football Elo Ratings, based on the Elo rating system used in chess, ranking teams on an all time basis. The UFWC (Unofficial Football World Championships) ranks teams on the number of times they have defended the Unofficial Football World Championship, an award devised solely for that purpose.

In August 1992 FIFA, working in co-operation with sponsor Coca-Cola, introduced a ranking system for senior national teams intended to provide a fair basis of comparison of the relative strengths of these teams.[1] This system has been used by FIFA ever since and has seen some major changes to the calculation principles in its short history. The most significant changes were implemented in 1999, in order to allow FIFA's system to compete with the Elo ratings, which were considered a more accurate, credible depiction of the teams' rankings.

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2006-07-30T01:48:00.000-07:00

FIFA World Ranking : FIFA World Rankings July 2006

After World Cup 2006 Brazil remain top, followed by Italy, Argentina and France. England rise to 5th with Portugal in 8th. Mexico drop to 18th behind the USA and Spain.

Japan are down to 49th position. South Korea occupy 56th position.

FIFA World Ranking

1 Brazil
2 Italy
3 Argentina
4 France
5 England
6 The Netherlands
7 Spain
8 Portugal
9 Germany
10 Czech Republic

11 Nigeria
11 Cameroon
13 Switzerland
14 Uruguay
15 Ukraine
16 USA
17 Denmark
18 Mexico
19 Paraguay
20 Côte d'Ivoire

21 Colombia
22 Sweden
23 Croatia
24 Guinea
25 Ghana
26 Romania
27 Turkey
28 Ecuador
29 Egypt
30 Poland
31 Tunisia
32 Greece
33 Australia
34 Russia
35 Senegal
36 Serbia and Montenegro
37 Bulgaria
38 Honduras
39 Republic of Ireland

40 Morocco
41 Scotland
42 Peru
43 Bosnia-Herzegovina
44 Slovakia
45 Costa Rica
46 Chile
47 Iran
48 Togo
49 Japan
50 Uzbekistan
51 Israel
52 Norway
53 Guatemala
54 Canada
55 Angola
56 Korea Republic
57 Belgium
58 Wales
59 Panama
60 Austria

61 Slovenia
62 Zambia
63 Mali
64 Trinidad and Tobago
65 Albania
66 Zimbabwe
67 Congo DR
68 Venezuela
69 Lithuania
70 Finland
71 FYR Macedonia
72 South Africa
73 Belarus
74 Burkina Faso
75 Northern Ireland
76 Qatar
77 Moldova
78 Jamaica
79 Moldova
80 Libya

81 Saudi Arabia
82 Latvia
83 Estonia
84 Hungary
85 Bolivia
86 Oman
87 Georgia
88 Iraq
89 China PR
90 United Arab Emirates
91 Korea DPR
92 Cyprus
93 Algeria
94 Bahrain
95 Equatorial Guinea
96 Gabon
96 Cuba
98 Jordan
99 Uganda
100 Kuwait

101 Ethiopia
102 Cape Verde Islands
103 Rwanda
104 Botswana
105 Armenia
106 Benin Haiti
107 Iceland
108 Congo
109 Azerbaijan
110 Syria
111 Singapore
112 Lebanon
113 Thailand
113 Sudan
115 St. Lucia
116 Tajikistan
117 Kenya
117 New Zealand
117 Hong Kong
120 Palestine

121 Kyrgyzstan
122 Malta
123 Haiti
124 Liechtenstein
125 Yemen
126 Mozambique
126 Maldives
128 Chad
129 St. Vincent and the Grenadines
130 India
131 Guyana
131 Andorra
133 Lesotho
134 Fiji
135 Mauritius
136 Liberia
136 St. Kitts and Nevis
138 Sri Lanka
139 Indonesia
140 Kazakhstan

141 Vietnam
141 Seychelles
143 Bangladesh
143 Tanzania
145 Antigua and Barbuda
146 Malaysia
147 El Salvador
148 Turkmenistan
149 Chinese Taipei
150 Surinam
151 Solomon Islands
152 Barbados
153 Swaziland
153 Pakistan
155 Sierra Leone
156 Madagascar
157 Burundi
158 Gambia
159 Grenada
160 Bermuda

161 Nicaragua
162 Vanuatu
163 Myanmar
164 Tahiti
164 Nepal
166 Mauritania
167 Namibia
168 British Virgin Islands
169 Niger Nepal
169 Faroe Islands
171 New Caledonia
172 Central African Republic
173 Afghanistan
174 Papua New Guinea
175 Cayman Islands
176 Netherlands Antilles
177 Eritrea
178 Brunei Darussalam
179 Guinea-Bissau
179 Somalia

181 Mongolia
182 Laos
183 Dominica
183 Cambodia
183 Macau
186 Dominican Republic
187 Tonga
188 Bhutan
189 Samoa
190 Puerto Rico
191 San Marino
192 Philippines
193 Bahamas
194 Cook Islands
194 Luxembourg
196 Belize
196 Djibouti
196 São Tomé e Príncipe
196 Aruba
196 US Virgin Islands

196 Turks and Caicos Islands
196 Guam
196 American Samoa
196 Monserrat

Source: www.fifa.com

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2006-07-30T01:41:00.000-07:00

FIFA World Ranking : George Best

This morning when I woke the first thought that flickered through my mind was – how is George Best? I thought he’d died during the night, but there is nothing on the news confirming this, so all must be well with the world. But regrettably, not for long.

I had the great pleasure of seeing George in the flesh over a hundred times, and many of those matches remain clear in the memory. He was the kind of player you couldn’t keep your eyes off for long, for if you did, you might miss his latest piece of magic, kind of Rooney with many more goals.

There are so many stories of George, most of them you will have heard before, but I like the one of when he was a young lad and he first arrived at Old Trafford as a very skinny kid. He took the ball up to Harry Gregg, coolly dribbled round him and tapped the ball into an empty net. "Come here you little *******! How dare you do that to me," snarled Gregg, a senior pro from the old school who hated to concede goals, even in training.

George promptly did the same thing, three times more, and Gregg knew they’d discovered a star.

I suppose one of his most famous games was the match in Lisbon against Benfica in 1966. United had won the home leg 3-2 and were widely expected to go out in the return. (United having to win or Draw in Lisbon to stay in the competition, familiar eh?) Benfica were a much bigger club then than now, recently European Champions. But Best was unplayable that night, scoring two fine goals and United won 5-1 in that famous stadium. Even the locals applauded his brilliance and christened him "El Beatle", shades of Ronaldinho at the Bernabeau last weekend, or Thierry Henry at Portsmouth a couple of seasons ago. When the home fans applaud, you just know you’ve witnessed something special.

But my favourite match was for Northern Ireland in Belfast. The one against a very good Scottish team in 1967, and he didn’t even score, but I have never witnessed a game where a single player dominated the whole of a game from beginning to end, as George did that day, not until Maradona came along anyway.

If ever there was a game of one player against eleven it was that day. George demanded the ball, and the lads in green gave it to him at every opportunity, because they knew he was simply unplayable. If you ever have a chance to see a video of that match, watch it, and you will see what I mean.

So where does Besty stand in the all time rankings? Right up there of course, for me, admittedly I’m bias, he is head and shoulders above anyone else who ever came from these islands, certainly a better player in my humble opinion than Cruyff, which leaves those famous two old rivals, Pele and Maradona, both truly brilliant, but George was right up there with them, he was that good. The great Pele when addressed as the world’s greatest player said, “no, the greatest player is George Best.”

When he was at his very best he was unstoppable, and when he was like that, Bobby Charlton and Dennis Law (European footballers of the year both) would simply give him the ball, stand back and admire, and let him get on with it. He packed the grounds wherever he went, he played the game with an outrageous smile on his face. He inspired kids the length and breadth of the land, in playgrounds and on scruffy fields everywhere, he inspired them to try something special, something different, because they had seen Georgie do it on the telly.

The Liverpool Daily Post, a one eyed newspaper if ever there was one, as I suppose local newspapers are meant to be, once ran a huge headline which read: EVERTON FALL TO THE GENIUS OF BEST. I took the Daily Post for thirty years, and I can never remember them ever writing about an opposition player in such glowing terms, before or since. George had the habit of winning over the most hard-hearted of opponents.

Yet he was a man of many weaknesses, hands up those of us who don’t have any of those, yet the people who knew him best, spoke of him as a generous and caring man, and I believe that to be true. On the football field he had no weaknesses. None whatsoever, he could shoot with either foot, he was a good header of the ball, a great tackler, an unsurpassed dribbler, (a rare talent today), he was quick, and don’t forget he played in an age of ferocious tacklers, where the tackle from behind was legal and sendings off a rarity, and he gave as good as he received, but most of all, he had the ability to produce the unexpected, the true sign that marks out the great ones.

And now he is gone, and I for one will miss him greatly. But all those memories will live with us forever, and for those George, I thank you. George Best died peacefully in hospital in London with his family around him.

George Best

22nd May 1946 – 25th November 2005.

Rest in peace.

David Carter’s latest published work is SPLAM! Successful Property Letting And Management. Splam! contains over 240 pages of hints and tips on how to start your own property business on a limited budget, and how to successfully let residential property. You can view actual extracts of the book at http://www.splam.co.uk and order a download or a hard copy at this site or you can go direct to the publishers at http://www.lulu.com/dc. He also runs a holiday cottage website where you can access over 7,000 holiday cottages, apartments and villas worldwide at http://www.pebblebeachmedia.co.uk. Don’t you deserve a holiday? Well of course you do! You can contact David on any matter any time at supalife@aol.com

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2006-07-30T01:38:00.000-07:00

FIFA World Ranking : World Cup 2006 Preview - USA

The USA have a lot to live up to after reaching the quarter finals four years ago but being placed in the “Group of Death” could see their campaign in Germany fall much shorter.

As usual, the USA had a relatively easy group, with only Mexico providing any real competition. This the fifth consecutive finals the US are participating in, despite being much-maligned as a capable international football team.

In 16 qualifying matches Bruce Arena’s side lost just twice, away at both Mexico and Costa Rica and secured their place in Germany with matches to spare and topped their group ahead of Mexico due to a better head-to-head record.

The USA may be rated eighth in the world according to the FIFA rankings, but similar to Mexico, the sheer number of games they play against sub-standard opposition means they are perhaps artificially high. Arena could afford to field a reserve team for the final two matches and still win the group. The bookies are under no illusions and rate them as 100/1 (Bet365) outsiders to win the tournament outright, top 10 in the world or not.

Like Italy, the USA may also suffer from a lack of stability. While Claudio Reyna is the first-choice captain, no less than seven players wore the armband during qualifying.

However, if they can get past this then Arena can rely on a vastly experienced team to try and negotiate their way into the second round. While 164-cap Cobi Jones has finally retired, the US have another centurion in Reyna while Kasey Keller, Brian McBride and Eddie Pope are all veterans of previous World Cup campaigns. Even striker Landon Donovan, at 23-years-old, boasts over 70 caps.

Despite struggling to make the grade in Europe, Donovan remains the USA’s most potent threat. Now playing as a midfield playmaker and back in his homeland with Los Angeles Galaxy, he racked up six goals in qualifying and created as many for others.

There may not, however, be a place for 16-year-old sensation Freddy Adu. The DC United striker could be representing Ghana in this year’s finals but pledged his international future to the USA.

Recommended Bet:

This is an exceptionally tough group for the USA to negotiate, especially since they do not play top class European opposition very often. This could well be the type of group where everyone takes points from everyone else, but Bruce Arena’s side best chance of success comes in their final group game against Ghana. At odds-against, the USA look a sound bet but even victory here may not be enough to make it to the last 16.

USA to beat Ghana @ 6/5

David Walker runs a free World Cup bets website and written World Cup previews. A free 45-page World Cup guide is available from the website and features a "free World Cup football shirt" offer.

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2006-07-27T00:52:00.000-07:00

Italy close in on Brazil in new-look top five

No prizes for guessing the second main dynamic behind the principal movers and shakers in this month's ranking. That small, little-known tournament known as the FIFA World Cup™ certainly had a telling and, in some cases, spectacular impact, and all the more so because of this new rule dictating that only the past four years' results are taken into account.

This was evident from the top five downwards, where Brazil just hung on to top spot from Italy, who jumped 11 places after succeeding the Seleção as world champions. The Final itself might have been marred by Zinedine Zidane's dismissal and decided in the least desirable fashion, but over the course of the tournament, their solidity and solidarity had set them apart from many a more-fancied rival.

"Maybe it wasn't pretty, but we were hard to beat," said their tigerish midfield scrapper Gennaro Gattuso after the penalty shoot-out win over France, acknowledging the colossal roles played by Fabio Cannavaro, Italy's decisive, dynamic captain, and the agile, often-unbeatable Gianluigi Buffon. Coach Marcello Lippi, meanwhile, praised his players for the "unlimited heart, character and personality," that had seen them brush aside Ghana, Czech Republic, Australia, Ukraine and Germany en route to their crowning moment in Berlin's Olympiastadion.

The only disappointment for the Azzurri as they look ahead to UEFA EURO 2008 - and, perhaps, to snatching top spot from the Brazilians - is that they will do so without Lippi himself, who resigned in the wake of the Final, claiming that: "I have achieved what I set out to achieve."

Beaten finalists France (fourth, up four) also burst into the top five along with the impressive, but ultimately unsuccessful Argentina (third, up six) and another team whose dreams of glory ended in the quarter-finals, England (fifth, up five). Germany, meanwhile, were rewarded for their inspiring march to the semis with a return to the top ten, where they assumed ninth position with a climb of 10 places.

2006-07-27T00:43:00.000-07:00

World Soccer Rank 1 as Germany 2006

Italy players pose with the World Cup trophy as they celebrate their victory over France in the 2006 FIFA World Cup final at Berlin's Olympic Stadium, 9 July 2006. The Italians won the game 5-3 in the penalty shoot-out.
(AFP) PATRIK STOLLARZ

After months of minor changes during which order was largely maintained in the top 10, the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking witnessed some veritably seismic shifts, with a couple of key factors forcing the movement.

The first of these was the most significant change in the ranking's calculation in its 13-year history. A new system came into operation this month and, instead of taking into account the past eight years' results, only the last four now have a bearing on teams' positions within the ranking table.

As for the other means by which the ranking was traditionally decided (result, importance of match, strength of opponents, regional strength, number of matches considered), these have been tested, re-analysed and, in some cases, completely revised. Indeed, two of the factors previously used - goals scored and home advantage - have been removed from the reckoning process altogether.

By anyone's standards, this represents a major overhaul of the entire system, and it is one that is also geared towards makes the process of assessing fully 207 member associations a little easier to understand. "We are aware that it is difficult to meet everybody's expectations," acknowledged FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, "but are confident that the new system will provide an accurate measure of the strength of each of our member associations."
fifa.com

2006-07-26T22:39:00.000-07:00

Agony for Asian trio

Not all of the FIFA World Cup participants fared so well, however, and for every rapid rise, there was a drop every bit as dramatic. Saudi Arabia, for example, plummeted fully 47 places to rest in 81st position in the wake of a disappointing campaign, and their Asian rivals had similarly sad tales to recount. Take Japan, who began the tournament in 18th position and now languish in 49th, or Iran - down 24 to 47th - or even 2002 semi-finalists Korea Republic, who dropped out of the top 50 altogether after slumping 27 places to 56th.

Finally, and while the FIFA World Cup might understandably have dominated our attentions, we should also recognise the remarkable progress registered by a few non-participants, most notably Equatorial Guinea, who climbed 59 places into 95th position, Canada, who moved to within four places of the top 50 with a 29-place jump, and Guinea, who are now one spot ahead of Ghana, having leaped from 51st to 24th position in this much-changed ranking table.

2006-07-24T23:38:00.000-07:00

Italy conquer world as Germany win friends

Football's most prized Trophy may be in Italian hands but Marcello Lippi's Azzurri were not the only ones celebrating after a FIFA World Cup™ where both the players and their German hosts gave football lovers so much to smile about.

From Germany's victory over Costa Rica in the Opening Match in Munich on 9 June to Italy's triumph over France in the Final in Berlin exactly one month later, events in Germany kept an estimated worldwide audience of more than 30 billion people captivated.

All looked on as a cast list incorporating 32 teams from Angola to the USA conspired to excite and enthral during a 64-match, 147-goal marathon attended by 3,359,439 people in the 12 stadiums – and millions more in Fan Fests across Germany.