We're number seven! We're number seven!
Actually it is fantastic to see the United States men's soccer team rank this high. The United States is ranked above Germany, England, Argentina, and Italy! :cool:

http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps...3&iCategoryID=0

And Greece jumps 21 spots without getting into the top 10. Well they should still celebrate.

YEAH! NUMBER 7!

I'm really impressed...the US ranked above England and Argentina? Am I dreaming? It gets better- this is not just one great generation of soccer players. We have Eddie Gaven, Freddy Adu, Danny Szetela, Mike Magee, Alecko Eskandarian, Memo Gonzales, Ricardo Clark...the list just goes on and on.

I always wondered how these rankings were actually compiled. Especially for the women, where, after winning two Women's World Cups and Olympic medals in 1996 and 2000 and dominating women's soccer for a good decade, the US still is ranked behind Germany.

I guess in the end it really doesn't matter WHAT your ranking is. I think Greece showed that...

I am so glad that we are #7. I like the men getting at much attention as the US women, who have dominated for a long time. I hope the US men continue to do well and do well at the Olympics as well as the next world cup.

Unfortunately, the US men failed to qualify for the Olympics :mad: They were knocked out in the semifinal round of the qualifying tournament by Mexico (only the semifinal winners advanced to Athens).

In the latest ranking, USA is number 10 (tied with Turkey).

The first team is Brazil, followed by France and Spain. Argentina, runner up at Copa America moves up to fourth place.

The Czech Republic is number 5, Netherlands 6, England 7, Mexico 8, Italy 9.

Canada is 96th tied with Togo. It's 10th in the CONCACAF.

Why did the USA drop? This poll is worse than the BCS!!! wink

Wins over weak competition like Grenada will do that to you.

They're even higher now .... the US jumped from 10th to 6th and is hot on the heels of #5 Mexico trailing by 3 points.

I think it's phenomenal to think the US is in the top 6 teams in the world.

The US may even move up past Mexico- they face off in a World Cup Qualifier on Sept. 3 in Columbus. With a win in Columbus, the US would probably move past Mexico both in the FIFA rankings and in the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying table.

Looking at the rankings also reminds you of something else though- how far the US and Mexico are above the rest of their region. The next CONCACAF squad in the rankings is Costa Rica at number 23. Honduras is next at 39, but they aren't in the final round of World Cup Qualifying. The other final round teams are:
Trinidad and Tobago: 58th
Guatemala: 61st
Panama: 83rd

But, in the end, the rankings mean nothing. As Panama showed against the US last September and against Mexico in April, any team can come out and get a result against any other team (both times, Panama got a 1-1 draw).

...and that's why there is NO excuse for us not to qualify for any World Cup.

Is FIFA seeting up US soccer for a crash in Germany later this year? The newest world rankings now have the U.S. at FOURTH in the world.

Oh my gosh, FIFA has gone mad. Do you really think they are setting us up? I'm not one for conspiracy theories but I may be changing my mind. They're trying to turn the screw on our boys + put the pressure on'em. eek!

I can't think of any one person in this world, that respects the FIFA World Rankings. It's such a scam and FIFA should be embarassed to be putting out rankings that reflect so poorly on the product.

How is it that the United States is ranked FOURTH in the entire world?

I'll give them some credit in that they made it to the quarter-finals of World Cup 2002, and that they won the 2005 Gold Cup. With that being said, there's no way that's deserving a top four ranking. Top 20 definately...heck I'd even put them between 10-12.

But fourth place in the world? FIFA should be ashamed of something like that.

If the US makes it past the first round and repeats their performance from 2002, I would easily make them Top 10...but let me tell you, this will be a BIG test for the Americans. It's time to prove to the world that you belong with the big boys...it's time to show that North Americans can play soccer too.

Hmmm...my goodness...

The U.S. is not the fourth-best team in the world, no matter what FIFA says...

But check out the rankings and you'll see that fewer points separate numbers 4 and 8 than separate numbers 3 and 4. What am I saying? Well besides the obvious failure of these rankings, a drop of 7 points (possible after the rather feeble draw with Jamaica) would send the U.S. down 4 places. So though the U.S. is fourth, don't think they have a stranglehold on their position...

And besides, somehow, I don't think Bruce Arena really gives a damn about the FIFA rankings...

The Current FIFA World Rankings Top 20 and my thoughts...

1. Brazil
2. Czech Republic
3. Netherlands
4. USA
5. Spain
6. Mexico
7. France
8. Portugal
9. Argentina
10. England
11. Denmark
12. Nigeria
13. Turkey
14. Italy
15. Cameroon
16. Sweden
17. Japan
18. Egypt
19. Greece
20. Germany

Can someone tell me why Egypt is in the Top 20 while Ukraine is ranked 41st?

And why is Greece in the Top 20? Sure they won Euro 2004 but before that, and after that, they've done NOTHING. A fluke shouldn't give you a top 20 ranking.

The only thing I can logically think of is that they are trying to get more Americans interested in the World Cup to generate profit and open up the massive North American market even wider. I think Americans do pay attention to the World Cup, especially since the US has qualified the past 5 Finals, but it doesn't translate to a larger viewership / interest in the MLS or UEFA leagues.

The odd thing is that whenever the rankings come out, I have never read how they come about them. Is there some sort of computer program? I don't know. But what gives me a laugh is how upset Europeans get with the rankings, especially the British. I know they think the rankings are trash but they are released by the international governing body of futbol.

Let's just hope we have the last laugh.

The ridiculous calculation formula as found on FIFA.com

Taken into consideration for the ranking are all international-A match results over a time span of the last eight years:

World Cup finals matches
World Cup preliminary matches
FIFA Confederations Cup matches
Continental championship final matches
Continental championship preliminary matches
Friendly matches

The ranking list is produced by a computer program which assigns a team points for every match, according to clearly defined criteria. The factors taken into consideration are:

Winning, drawing and losing
Number of goals
Home or away match
Importance of the match (multiplication factor)
Regional strength (multiplication factor)

For each team only the seven best results per year are given full weighting. Results from the past are given progressively less weighting year by year until after eight years they are dropped completely. In this way current success is rated more highly than past results.


Some special rules to consider...

- A win over a weaker opponent will earn fewer points than victory over an equally rated or stronger one. It is also possible for a weak team that puts up a good show against a stronger one to earn points in defeat - though as a general rule not as many as the stronger team that beat them.

- A goal scored by the lower-rated team will be weighted more than one scored by the higher-rated side. On the other side of the balance sheet, points are deducted for goals conceded.

- To make an allowance for the extra handicap of playing away from home, the away-team is awarded a small bonus of 3 points. For games played on neutral territory or during World Cup final rounds there are no such bonus points.

Matches are weighed differently as well...

Friendly match x 1.00
Continental championship preliminary x 1.50
World Cup preliminary match x 1.50
Continental championship finals match x 1.75
FIFA Confederations Cup match x 1.75
World Cup finals match x 2.00

This means that qualifying matches are weighted 50% higher than friendlies, continental final round matches 75 % higher and matches during World Cup finals twice as much.

Of course you have to consider what confederation your opponent plays in as well...

UEFA x 1.00
CONMEBOL x 0.99
CAF x 0.96
CONCACAF x 0.94
AFC x 0.93
OFC x 0.93

Based on the above considerations, the total number of points credited to a team after a match will depend on the following criteria:

- Points for winning, drawing or losing
- Plus the points for goals scored in this game
- Minus points for the goals conceded
- Plus a bonus for the away team
- Multiplied by the appropriate factor for the status of the match
- Multiplied by the appropriate factor for regional strength

And then the number of games teams play...

So that teams playing more international matches are not favoured over those playing fewer, only a limited number of games are taken into consideration. This number has been determined by deciding on what could be termed the "averagely active teams", and these were agreed on as those having played between seven and ten matches per year.

The Ukraine did not qualify for a Euro championship or World Cup until the 2006 World Cup. Egypt, however, has been a solid team for years, and did excellently at the recent African Cup of Nations.

Simontexas, the way I understand it is that there is a computer program, and all the team's results are fed into it. However, more emphasis is placed on matches in international competitions (World Cup, Euro championship, African Cup of Nations, CONCACAF Gold Cup, etc.), and even more emphasis is placed on recent matches. So, for example, the U.S.'s matches in the Gold Cup last year have more impact on the rankings than the 2002 World Cup results. Every team is assigned a point total for every match, with negative points for teams with draws and losses against teams lower than them and positive points for wins and draws against teams higher than them (or wins in international competitions).

The reason why the U.S. has gotten so high in the rankings has multiple parts. First, some of their point total is based on the Gold Cup success last year. Secondly, some is based on their World Cup Qualifying record. However, most of the U.S.'s position can be attributed to an excellent start to the year. Wins over Norway, Japan, and Guatemala, as well as ties against Canada and Jamaica, have made the U.S. 3-1-2 on the year. This gives the U.S. enough points to reach fourth place.

A win against Canada doesnt mean much considering where Canada is in the rankings

Didn't Egypt win the African Cup of Nations?

Good to see the FIFA ranking, though I put zero stock in it. The proof of the US's improvement will come on the fields in Germany in two months. I hope they can win their first round games and contend, but I think this year's tournament is going to be a real challenge.

I think either Brazil or the host country, Germany, is going to win it all.

Egypt won the African Cup of Nations on PKs.

And Brazil won't win, at least not if you're superstitious. Every World Cup they've been a favorite, they haven't won. For example, in 1982, the chain-smoking midfielder Socrates led the favorites Brazil; Brazil didn't win. In 2002, however, Brazil stumbled through qualifying and were anything but convincing in the run-up to the World Cup. However, they still waltzed out of Yokahama Stadium with the trophy.

My picks? Argentina or England. Argentina, with Lionel Messi and Joan Roman Riquelme, are just too good in the midfield. England may have a shaky goalkeeping situation, but John Terry, Frank Lampard, and David Beckham are excellent. And oh yeah, some kid named Wanye Rooney plays for them too...

Though I'd love to see England regain some of it's old glory, and they certainly have the tools to do it, I am not sure they're motivated enough to play as a team. And expectations are too high for them back home no matter how much some Brits may pretend they don't care - a drag on the team members since they have to go back there for the next season, win or lose.

I expect the Asian teams to put up a strong showing with the athletic Koreans or possibly the sports-crazed Aussies sneaking up on some teams.

One middle eastern team may be the most fun to watch in a way. Those homophobic societies free up the male players to put on a real show of "affection" after a goal or good play. Hmm, wonder if the Iranian president will complain if they put on a "mini-orgy" midfield after qualifying for the semi-finals.

New rankings, big crashes ...

US from 5 to 16

Mexico from 4 to 18