Matches between top 10 teams are worth double a normal friendly, but unless Germany gets two blowout victories, the can't close a 55+ point gap with two wins. Not likely we will widen the gap much with 1-0 victories. Since it is on USA soil, Germany gets spotted 100 ranking points, which added to the 55+ point gap, the computed expected outcome is 70-75% USA victories. It would gain take 2 big wins to gain much on Germany. If we split, Germany gains a little.
The US are getting these extra 100 points for playing at home. So it's USA 2321 - Germany 2168 USA win 6:0 => USA +9, GER -9 USA win 1:0 => USA +4, GER -4 USA draw 0:0 => USA -7, GER +7 USA lose 0:1 => USA -17, GER +17 USA lose 0:6 => USA -21, GER +21 (there could be +-1 inaccuracies) For the second match the points will slightly differ, because the teams will have a different amount of ranking points. Germany will overtake the USA with two wins. Germany will stay at least #2 no matter the results.
Currently (as of today) USA 2221, Germany 2168, Japan 2110. Germany can lose at most 16 points (with two 6 - 0 defeats). Japan would still be 42 points behind. With two 6 - 0 wins Germany would gain (and the US would lose) 40 points. The Germans would be 27 points ahead of the US. Two 1 - 0 wins for the US: USA 2229, Germany 2160. Two 1 - 0 wins for Germany: Germany 2200, USA 2189.
And yet people on here have complained that it is all about patsies and getting Wambach passed Mia Hamm in the record books. They scheduled Germany who are in form from playing in their regular league for over a month. The USWNT is coming off of a vacation with 2 days warmup practice. Definitely not worrying about keeping the #1 rank at all costs and feeding the record book.
And they mugged Australia and Costa Roca, so what's you point? They have been on tour since the Olympics. On top of that they are probably the most fit and athletic, FOR SURE, club in the world. Germany's passing and one-touch connection game will make them look sloppy, but their forwards when they move it to the final 3rd will give Germany hell. The games will look like the U20 battle. The outcomes will depend how well their backline clears and gets dangerous balls out the box. A couple of balls popped up by O'Hara, some tackles in the box by other defenders, and Germany could grab one of the two games. That looks like a normal game for FC USWNT.
My point is that they if they wanted only patsies, they would not have selected a team that could realistically take the #1 rank from them at the end of a tour. If they took Germany first, then Germany would have been just beginning preseason training. The USWNT didn't look sharp in the Australia games.
I think its one of two things (or both): either Germany was the only team willing/able to come here for the dates the US had available and/or there is an agreement for the US to go to Germany next year for 2 pre-Euro games.
And it still shows that they were willing to risk their #1 ranking against a strong in-form team while they are on their victory lap.
Teams don't waste a lot of energy thinking about rankings. It's mostly just fans who get worked up about them. I expect that US Soccer saw an opportunity to sell the women's game at home and build its profile while memories of the Olympics are still fresh with a couple of games against a very strong opponent. It's also an opportunity to keep team members sharp while there is no top flight women's league operating in North America.
I agree that it was about selling a game on the Victory tour. But 1 day of training before a game isn't about keeping sharp. Germany flew in earlier than the USWNT did.
So is a 1:1 draw the same as a 0:0 draw? USA lost 7 points? So now it is USA 2214 and Germany 2175. With a 0:1 loss USA stay #1 2197 - 2192 Germany. With a 0:6 loss USA drops to #2 2193 - 2196 Germany.
Well, coaches can to but only shortly before torunamnets where the ranking would affect the draw. And since none of the two eams have any tournamnet it can do that for until the 2015WWC...
No, it's not the same and I made a small error with the 0:0 result anyway. Actually the 1:1 is better for both teams than a 0:0. It's USA -6 and GER +6 (instead of USA -7 and GER +5 for a 0:0)
It's not fair that Norway is only ranked no. 13! Norway should be in the Top 10 since the Norwegian women's team is better than England (no. 8) Australia (no. 9) and Italy (no. 10) USA and Germany in places one and two is right, but France and Sweden should be no. 3 and no. 4 instead of Japan and Brazil
It's nobody's fault if lately Japan won a World Cup and a silver medal, while France "won" two fourth places and Sweden a third place and nothing more (and was consistently beaten by Japan during these last two years)...
Ok i can still agree with Japan being no. 3, not so much with Brazil no. 4, both France and Sweden are better in my opinion. And Norway is very underrated with no. 13 and so is Denmark with no. 12! Both teams are undoubtly better than England, Australia and Italy and deserve a Top 10 spot. This ranking doesn't make a lot of sense to me But then again FIFA rankings have always been kinda surprising
They are better than Italy but not better than England and I haven't seen Australia enough lately to tell. But the ranking are based on result and during the WWC and the first games of the Euro-qualification Norway played well below their potential so they deserve the ranking they got.
I'd like to see Norway become one of the major contenders again but they were struggling at world Cup and in the early stages of Euro qualification. They lost to North Ireland in euro qualifying as well as Iceland (not that Iceland's shabby - just that they're in that very same range of teams that Norway was once clearly ahead of). Norway also lost to Australia in the World Cup. If they're regaining some form maybe they are better than England, Australia, Italy (Iceland too while we're at it) but there was a time not long ago when Norway was clearly one of the 5 or 6 elite sides ahead of the rest. Clearly now they are not; clearly they are struggling to stay ahead of these teams. They're in a period of transition -- it isn't clear that Isabel Herlovsen or Cecilie Pedersen can step up to become quite the reliable force at the international level that Ragnhild Gulbrandsen was. Solveig Gulbransen is pretty much out of the picture; there was turmoil that saw a couple other veterans dropped (can't remember their names). (Oh, geez, speaking of names I can't even remember the GK - Bonnie may never forgive me). And I'm not sure they can quite rely on Ingvild Stensland the way they used to -- what a fantastic warrior she is or was in the midfield.
New rankings out today! And basically absolutely nothing of note. Aside from Nigeria, basically no-one in the top 30 changed by more than 12 points, and only two other teams moved more than one spot. Understandable I guess, but still very blah. =-/
One thing of considerable note: Despite winning the African Championship, and competing at the 2011 World Cup and 2012 Olympics, Equatorial Guinea are still 5 places and 47 points below Papua New Guinea, who have 3 horrific defeats in the last 2 years (0-11, 0-8 and 0-7 v New Zealand) and have precisely ZERO victories against anybody above 75th in the rankings EVER, and the highest ranked team they have beaten is Tonga - who are probably rated too highly anyway.
Does anyone want to predict what the rankings will look like in 2019 (going in to the 2019 WWC) ? FIFA Top 20 (June, 2019) 1.) USA (still #1 in the world in 2019. Alex Morgan is starting to get older) 2.) Germany (consistency) 3.) France (the French continue to get better) 4.) Japan (still staying consistent, Top 5 to stay?) 5.) Brazil (this will be Marta's last WWC) 6.) North Korea (all that youth finally came together and got better by their mid 20's) 7.) Spain (the most improved nation in the world, from 2013 to 2019) 8.) Sweden (still staying strong, but not as strong as they were) 9.) Canada (NWSL has helped them stay in Top 10) 10.) Italy (constant improvement as time goes by) 11.) Australia (the W-League is still around, Matildas just outside of Top 10) 12.) England (still a respectful team, but the glory days of Kelly Smith and Alex Scott are over) 13.) Netherlands (look at this. the Dutch are moving closer to the Top 10) 14.) South Korea (also much improvement since 2013) 15.) Mexico (NWSL has also helped out Mexico dramatically) 16.) New Zealand (surprise. the ferns are one of the most improved over the past few years) 17.) Norway (still shifting backward in the rankings. will they ever get back to where they were?) 18.) Denmark (same for Denmark) 19.) Colombia (finally a CONMEBOL team other than Brazil finds its way into the Top 20) 20.) China (just hanging on to Top 20 status) # of teams in Top 20 by region: UEFA: 9 teams AFC: 5 teams CONCACAF: 3 teams CONMEBOL: 2 teams OFC: 1 team CAF: 0 teams (Nigeria is just outside of Top 20, in 2019)
Germany may not be #1 in 2019, but they will go into 2019, as defending 2015 WC champs unless the USA's attack diversifies. Germany won't have any problems pushing Morgan and Sydney off of their runs. Pia fails in Sweden without the athletes she had in the USA to cover up her poor coaching. Costa Rica is my dark horse to play with the 20th spot, if they get coaching. And that's a BIG if. Without a goal scoring machine like Delie, France will be out of the #5, but they will have a pretty game with lots of shots from 20-25 yds out. Yoreli Rincon FIFA Player of the Year
France has plenty of talent (and young talent). Plus they just won the U-17 WWC. Their future is bright. Brazil (not Germany) will win the 2015 WWC. Marta will finally get it done, and on Canadian soil. Sweden will decline a tad, yes. Costa Rica will be #20, only if they can make significant strides in their defense. If New Zealand can get some of their young talent away from rugby, and get them to play football. They would be very physical, and could end up being better than Australia in the future, borderline Top 10 in the world. They have the young talent, many of them just happen to play a different sport. Their team would be faster and more physical.
Brasil can't string together 3 elimination round wins, so that 2015 prediction isn't happen. Marta's pace is on a decline, and Debora would need to become something along the lines of a FIFA PofY candidate to cover her. Byanca will be great but will she be a scorer or a ball hog like Thais, given she has many of the same skill sets. They'd need the draw of the ages to get to the finals in 2015. I'm talking Sweden and Australia or something like that in the semi-finals and quarter-finals with a light weight like France in the finals. France's U17 is forward deficient, just like the senior team. As I've said, Delie is the only thing France has that looks like a TRUE forward when you compare them to the USA's rich crop. They are all mid-field and nothing in the box when you take Delie out the game. There's a reason why they can't get past the top 4 teams or so in the world in crunch time.