The new FIFA rankings for the men release on Thursday and there will be many changes. Some of these changes can be explained and some can’t because it’s FIFA. Either way, regardless of how absurd these rankings are, they hold great importance in terms of seeding for various tournaments. Anyway, thanks to FIFA, we can determine who will be where before the official rankings are unveiled tomorrow. Here’s the list.
Projected July 2015 FIFA Rankings
1) (0) Germany, 1441 points, 1775 points last month, 1st last month
2) (+1) Argentina, 1436 points, 1496 points last month, 3rd last month
3) (-1) Belgium, 1244 points, 1509 points last month, 2nd last month
4) (0) Colombia, 1217 points, 1435 points last month, 4th last month
5) (+1) Netherlands, 1204 points, 1378 points last month, 6th last month
6) (-1) Brazil, 1186 points, 1392 points last month, 5th last month
7) (0) Portugal, 1177 points, 1229 points last month, 7th last month
8) (+4) Romania, 1166 points, 1115 points last month, `12th last month
9) (+6) England, 1157 points, 1051 points last month, 15th last month
10) (+12) Wales, 1155 points, 929 points last month, 22nd last month
11) (-1) Spain, 1110 points, 1147 points last month, 10th last month
12) (+7) Chile, 1092 points, 989 points last month, 19th last month
13) (-5) Uruguay, 1036 points, 1183 points last month, 8th last month
14) (+4) Croatia, 1023 points, 992 points last month, 18th last month
15) (-2) Slovakia, 1016 points, 1012 points last month, 17th last month
16) (+4) Austria, 1016 points, 946 points last month, 20th last month
17) (-4) Italy, 1001 points, 1101 points last month, 13th last month
18) (-7) Switzerland, 997 points, 1146 points last month, 11th last month
19) (+2) Algeria, 941 points, 941 points last month, 21st last month
20) (-4) Czech Republic, 1036 points, 1036 points last month, 16th last month
21) (+3) Ivory Coast, 916 points, 916 points last month, 24th last month
22) (-13) France, 1164 points, 1164 points last month, 9th last month
23) (+14) Iceland, 769 points, 769 points last month, 37th last month
24) (+6) Denmark, 808 points, 808 points last month, 29th last month
25) (-9) Ghana, 800 points, 800 points last month, 34th last month
26) (-6) Bosnia and Herzegovina, 802 points, 1775 points last month, 32nd last month
27) (0) United States, 799 points, 823 points last month, 27th last month
28) (-7) Ukraine, 791 points, 784 points last month, 35th last month
29) (-3) Russia, 782 points, 833 points last month, 26th last month
30) (-2) Scotland, 744 points, 818 points last month, 28th last month
*List is projected based on calculating points on FIFA.com on the top 50 ranked teams from June 2015.
A few thoughts:
– I’ll point out the obvious, how in the hell is England this high in the rankings? Well in actuality, England is 6-0-0 in Euro 2016 Qualifying so that’s why they’re in the top ten.
– Some notable omissions from this top 30 list are the two CONCACAF heavyweights Costa Rica and Mexico. Costa Rica dropped from 14th to 32nd and Mexico dropped from 23rd to 41st. FYI: If Costa Rica draws tonight against Jamaica, they will place 40th and if Costa Rica loses, Mexico will pass them for 40th and Costa Rica will be 41st.
– The United States, despite defeating Germany and Netherlands and wins against Guatemala and Honduras in this month, do not gain a spot in the FIFA Rankings.
– Even though Chile won the Copa America and Argentina lost the Copa America, Chile still doesn’t enter the top 10 while Argentina moves up to 2nd.
– Wales will be in the top 10 for the first time ever.
– The Women’s Ranking will be released Friday. Currently there is no ranking tool on FIFA.com. It’s safe to assume the United States will be 1st after winning the Women’s World Cup.
