Comparing FIFA Ranking and World Cup Qualification

[Eowin]

It is interesting to see how FIFA rankings would compare to the qualified teams. Comparing the October of 2005 published FIFA rankings and contrast the 32 qualified countries vs. the top 32 ranked nations.

FIFA Top 32 Analysis

Confederation # of FIFA Top 32 / # of FIFA Top 32 Qualified

AFRICA 4 / 1
ASIA + OCEANIA 4 / 4
CONCACAF 3 / 3
EUROPE 17 / 11
SOUTH AMERICA 4 / 3
TOTAL 32 / 22

- The biggest surprise is in the African confederation where most of the big names missed the world cup.

- In Europe, Turkey (11th), Denmark (14th), Greece (18th), Republic of Ireland (21st), Romania (28th) and Russia (30th) failed to make it to the world cup.

- By confederation, the lowest ranked nations making it to the world cup are:

In Africa – Angola (60th)
In Asia/Oceania – Australia (54th)
In CONCACAF – Trinidad and Tobago (53rd)
In Europe – Serbia and Montenegro (42nd)
In South America – Ecuador (36th)

The fact that 22 of the October 2005 top 32 FIFA ranked countries have made it to the world cup is good news and it should create a very competitive tournament. The luck of the draw will be a major factor on who would advance from the group stage next June.

[Sunderj]

Nice analysis...

I think you need to take into account that the Oct 2005 rankings include the results which got these teams into the WC in the first place... ie the act of qualifiyng itself should propel some teams into the top 32. Might be interesting to compare the rankings pre-qualifying, to see which of the 'expected' top 32 made it.

[EvanJ]

http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/statistics/index/0,2548,All-Nov-2005,00.html has the November 2005 Rankings. Why are you using October's Rankings?

[midknight]

Nice analysis...

I think you need to take into account that the Oct 2005 rankings include the results which got these teams into the WC in the first place... ie the act of qualifiyng itself should propel some teams into the top 32. Might be interesting to compare the rankings pre-qualifying, to see which of the 'expected' top 32 made it.

I was going to say this. You may also want to remember that different confederations started their qualification at different times...

CAF started June 2004.
UEFA started August 2004
CONCACAF started February 2004
CONMEBOL started September 2003
AFC started November 2003
OFC started MAy 2004

Therefore; CAF rankings May 2004
Cameroon 12
Nigeria 16
Senegal 31
Morocco 32
Tunisia 33
-----
Cote d'Ivoire 75
Ghana 84
Angola 87
Togo 99

Concacaf Rankings Jan 2004
Mexico 7
USA 11
Costa Rica 17
JAmaica 46
Honduras 47
Trinidad and Tobago 70
---
Guatemala 78
Panama 125

UEFA Rankings July 2004
France 2
Spain 3
Czech Republic 4
Netherlands 5
England 8
Italy 9
Turkey 10
Germany 12
Portugal 12
Greece 14
Denmark 15
Ireland 16
Sweden 19
Croatia 23
----
Poland 27
Norway 38
Switzerland 45
Serbia and Montenegro 48
Slovakia 66
Ukraine 77

CONMEBOL rankings August 2003
Brazil 1
Argentina 6
Paraguay 21
Colombia 21
Uruguay 24
Ecuador 37

AFC started October 2003
Korea Republic 22
Japan 25
Saudi Arabia 30
Iran 42
Kuwait 50
Iraq 52
----
Bahrain 94
Uzbekistan 109

OFC started MAy 2004
Australia 86
New Zealand 94
----
Solomon Islands 154