My eye test Rankings- Argentina France Spain England Portugal Brazil Belgium Netherlands Colombia Uruguay
A good argument can be made that Uruguay is better. A good argument can be made that they are about even. I will respect those opinions. That said, Colombia is arguably on the best run in their history right now. They have not lost a match in 14 consecutive matches. They have not lost a match under their manager Lorenzo who is still tinkering and trying to find the best lineups. I think pound- for- pound when healthy and best players fully available they can be the second best in South America behind Argentina. Keep in mind Uruguay and Colombia are better than Brazil at the moment too but this is my end of year review as a whole not a snap shot of how things are in a brief moment.
My updated top 150 ranking is in full effect but I can already issue my top 15 with ratings 1. France 89.5 2. Argentina 88 3. England 88 4. Spain 87 5. Portugal 87 6. Japan 84.5 7. Uruguay 84.5 8. Italy 84.5 9. Brazil 84 10. Netherlands 84 11. Belgium 84 12. Croatia 83.5 13. Morocco 83.5 14. Senegal 83.5 15. Colombia 83
Uruguay under Bielsa are definately ahead of Colombia. There's more individual quality in the Uruguayan team. Colombia are a well-drilled unit with some quality but not as much as Uruguay.
They played very good football this month and qualified deservedly directly for EURO 2024. They'll be rewarded with a +1 upgrade. I could spot first signs of Spalletti's handwriting. It seems he wants to implement the same flashy and thrilling attacking football at Italy he played at Napoli when he guided them to the Scudetto last season. The fact that they missed out on the 2022 World Cup doesn't play that much of a role for me. It was an accident and also down to some bad luck.
IMO, what we see increasingly is a cluster of sides in each category, with the differences (between their often differing strengths and weaknesses) too marginal to be properly captured by any numerical ranking system. The most interesting and insightful analysis relating to which teams have fallen inside or outside these different clusters?
When it comes to scoring goals it is hard to argue against your opinion but as I said Colombia is still tinkering with lineups and strategies and is still the only undefeated team in South America this year so that should impress people. I want to see how Uruguay plays in a tournament at this high tempo and pace before I rate them higher. It will be demanding for them to keep up this pace in a grueling compact tournament next summer. They have lost a lot of veterans this cycle and winning tournaments needs leadership qualities. That may be the only thing they are lacking since Godin and Suarez are gone.
Updated World Rankings from the November window 1. Argentina – 88 2. France – 88 3. England - 80 4. Brazil – 79 5. Portugal - 78 6. Netherlands – 78 7. Spain - 76 8. Japan – 73 9. Morocco - 72 10. Croatia – 72 11. Belgium – 65 12. Uruguay - 62 13. Colombia – 62 14. Italy - 60 15. Germany - 59 16. Ecuador – 58 17. USA - 57 18. Senegal – 55 19. South Korea - 55 20. Denmark – 54 21. Serbia – 53 22. Tunisia - 52 23. Hungary - 52 24. Australia – 50 25. Cameroon - 49 26. Austria – 49 27. Mexico – 48 28. Switzerland - 48 29. Algeria – 47 30. Iran – 47 31. Scotland - 47 32. Norway - 47 33. Czechia – 47 34. Peru – 46 35. Ukraine - 45 36. Poland – 44 37. Sweden - 44 38. Egypt – 43 39. Ivory Coast - 42 40. Canada – 42 41. Wales - 42 42. Slovenia - 41 43. Mali – 40 44. Turkey - 40 45. Greece – 40 46. Saudi Arabia - 40 47. Paraguay – 40 48. Venezuela - 39 49. Chile – 39 50. Panama - 39 51. Finland – 38 52. Ghana – 37 53. Russia - 37 54. Burkina Faso – 35 55. E. Guinea – 35 56. Ireland R – 35 57. Nigeria – 34 58. Slovakia - 34 59. Romania - 33 60. Bolivia – 33 61. South Africa - 32 62. Albania – 32 63. Zambia - 31 64. Jamaica - 31 65. Georgia – 31 66. Macedonia - 31 67. Cape Verde – 30 68. Costa Rica – 30 69. R. Congo - 29 70. Gabon – 29 71. Montenegro – 29 72. Uzbekistan - 28 73. Bulgaria – 28 74. Namibia - 27 75. Israel - 27 76. Gambia – 26 77. N. Ireland - 26 78. Kosovo - 26 79. Comoros – 26 80. Togo - 26 81. Madagascar - 26 82. Luxembourg - 26 83. Bosnia & H – 26 84. Kazakhstan – 26 85. Qatar – 25 86. Tanzania - 25 87. Benin – 25 88. UAE - 24 89. Iraq - 24 90. Guinea – 24 91. Guinea Bissau - 24 92. Bahrain – 24 93. Kenya - 24 94. Azerbaijan - 24 95. Armenia - 23 96. Angola – 23 97. Zimbabwe - 23 98. Ethiopia – 23 99. Mozambique - 22 100. Honduras – 22
the rest 101. Iceland – 22 102. Sierra Leone - 22 103. Malawi - 22 104. Central Africa R – 22 105. Oman - 21 106. El Salvador – 21 107. Jordan – 21 108. New Zealand – 21 109. Uganda - 21 110. Rwanda - 21 111. Libya – 21 112. Mauritania - 19 113. Haiti – 19 114. Lesotho – 19 115. Sudan - 19 116. Burundi - 19 117. Botswana – 19 118. Guatemala - 18 119. Belarus – 18 120. Congo - 18 121. China – 17 122. Syria – 17 123. Vietnam - 17 124. Lebanon - 17 125. Latvia – 17 126. Lithuania - 17 127. Liberia - 17 128. Estonia – 17 129. Niger – 17 130. Eswatini - 17 131. Cyprus – 16 132. Moldova – 16 133. Trinidad & T - 15 134. Curacao – 15 135. Kuwait – 15 136. Malta - 15 137. F. Islands - 15 138. Chad – 15 139. N. Korea – 14 140. Tajikistan - 13 141. South Sudan - 13 142. Palestine - 13 143. Eritrea – 13 144. Kyrgyzstan - 12 145. India – 12 146. Nicaragua - 11 147. Indonesia – 11 148. Turkmenistan - 11 149. Suriname - 10 150. Somalia – 10 151. Thailand - 9 152. Malaysia – 9 153. Phillipines - 9 154. Andorra – 9 155. Bermuda – 9 156. Hong Kong – 7 157. Singapore - 7 158. Guyana - 7 159. Cuba – 6 160. Sao Tome – 6 161. Yemen - 5 162. Mauritius - 5 163. Grenada - 5 164. Dominican R – 5 165. Seychelles - 5 166. Afghanistan – 5 167. Montserrat - 5 168. Leichenstein – 4 169. Puerto Rico – 4 170. Tahiti - 4 171. Solomon Islands - 3 172. Gibraltar - 3 173. Djibouti - 3 174. Barbados – 3 175. St. Kitts & N - 3 176. Antigua & B – 3 177. San Marino - 2
The latest FIFA rankings (30 Nov 2023) Argentina France England Belgium Brazil Netherlands Portugal Spain Italy Croatia Uruguay USA Morocco Mexico Colombia Germany Japan Switzerland Denmark Senegal Iran Ukraine Korea Rep Austria Australia Sweden Hungary Tunisia Wales Algeria Poland Ecuador Egypt Serbia Peru Scotland Turkiye Russia Czechia Chile Panama Nigeria Romania Norway Slovakia Cameroon Greece Canada Venezuela Ivory Coast Mali Costa Rica Paraguay Slovenia Jamaica Saudi Arabia Burkina Faso Qatar Finland Ireland Ghana Albania Iraq UAE North Macedonia South Africa Congo DR Uzbekistan Bosnia Montenegro Iceland Northern Iceland Cabo Verde Oman Israel Honduras Georgia El Salvador China PR Guinea ...
LOL I see one of the biggest discrepancy between FIFA and my ranking is Mexico. FIFA they are #14. My ranking they are #27 I wonder which people think is closer to reality.
As I have mentioned before, the end product for your top 20 looks alright. I would say better than FIFA's right now.
I disagree with your rankings between 20-50. And, for the most part, don't have strong opinions when it comes to the rest.
Initial feeling was Mexico is not 27. But then when I look at Vacity Eagle's list it is hard to rank them better than the teams up on the list. And some of the teams that they are ranked ahead are better than them.
Mexico last month I had in 30th. Odds are now that they drop a bit after having lost one of their games to Honduras away. My work for updated ranking is in full effect. CONMEBOL and UEFA updates are already available. AFC, CAF and CONCACAF takes some time.
China aren't by any means a top 100 nation. Neither Bosnia and El Salvador on current form. They were ranked 111th last month in my ranking. Their road win at Thailand might push them to the upper/midish 100s
My top 48 in clusters of 8: I. Argentina France England Portugal Spain Italy Brazil Japan II. Netherlands Belgium Croatia Uruguay Colombia Morocco USA Germany III. Korea Rep Senegal Hungary Switzerland Ukraine Denmark Ecuador Mexico IV. Austria Iran Australia Poland Peru Algeria Turkiye Serbia V. Tunisia Egypt Scotland Norway Sweden Czechia Canada Nigeria VI. Uzbekistan Mali Ivory Coast Saudi Arabia Venezuela Cameroon Russia Panama
I don't have any strong opinions on where China rate right now, but would still put them among the top 15 in the AFC and top 100 overall.
I will have them 14th in the AFC but outside of the top 100 12-13 AFC nations at best will make my top 100 The same nations that made it last month https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZUq8Y70yRYR1xdL4LNIFciWoss3rai3VB1fvtIzjCJ4/edit?usp=sharing Palestine will get bumped up quite a bit
Argentina just played Uruguay and they could have beaten us by 10. They are a well-oiled machine right now. Under Bielsa, and with Nunez clicking the way he is, they are the best in-form team in South America, imo. If no other CONMEBOL team greatly improves by June and if Uruguay avoids any injuries, the Copa America 2024 is theirs for the taking - to have them. To have them ranked 11th is hilarious to me, but I guess that's the flaw of the ranking methodology. Still, if they had to play any of the teams ranked ahead of them right now, I think I would only favor France over them.
Still have to see how they do in a tournament. If it were in South America as originally planned I would make them hands down favorite. In the USA it gets a bit trickier due to many different factors. Crowds being the main one. They just do not have the fanbase that other teams have and that can be a game changing variable in match ups. That said, Chile did not have many crowd advantages when they won in USA so it can be done.
Serious question... ...How many new managers have ever won the Copa America? If none is the case then maybe USA and Argentina are the favorites. lol
Answering my own question... ..Chile 2016. But some do not count it as a "real" Copa America. Back to regularly scheduled ranking content.