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Italy leap to second place

Germany's Bernd Schneider and Italy's Fabio Grosso battle for the ball during their World Cup 2006 semi-final soccer match in Dortmund.
(REUTERS) THOMAS BOHLEN


(FIFA.com) 12 Jul 2006

Four-time world champions Italy's latest triumph is also reflected in the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. The Azzurri have leaped 11 places to second and are now at the head of the chasing pack behind Brazil, who stay on top.
The positions of the teams at the top of the ranking mirror their performances at the 2006 FIFA World Cup?. Besides minor changes to other countries' positions in the Top Ten, there was also one other prime mover, the host nation Germany (9th, up 10), who thanks to convincing displays in front of their home fans find themselves back among the world's best teams for the first time in more than two years. Thanks to their performances at the World Cup, three other big gainers are Switzerland (13th, up 22), the Ukraine (15th, up 30) and Ghana (25th, up 23).

The new FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking takes a different look at African football and places teams such as Nigeria and Cameroon, who only narrowly failed to qualify for the World Cup, just outside the Top Ten. As expected, the teams from North America and Asia whom fortune did not favour at the World Cup (Mexico, USA, Iran, Japan and Korea Republic) have slipped down the ranking.

A new method has been used to calculate this eagerly awaited first World Ranking since the 2006 FIFA World Cup?, which not only introduces major changes in points allocation and the assessment of the opposition's strength, but also makes such factors as the importance of the match and regional strength easier to understand. This new formula and the big points hauls gained from World Cup matches has led to a complete shake up in the ranking. Besides the effect of the World Cup matches, the change in the evaluation period has also led to a major shift. Now only the last four years (48 months) count, with each year weighted differently.

- The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 16 August 2006.



Rank Team Pts:
Jul 06 +/-Rank
May 06 +/-Pts: May 06
1 Brazil 1630 0 803
2 Italy 1550 11 822
3 Argentina 1472 6 726
4 France 1462 4 713
5 England 1434 5 693
6 Netherlands 1322 -3 554
7 Spain 1309 -2 553
8 Portugal 1301 -1 551
9 Germany 1229 10 533
10 Czech Republic 1223 -8 451
11 Nigeria 1149 0 413
12 Cameroon 1109 3 387
13 Switzerland 1028 22 380
14 Uruguay 985 8 296
15 Ukraine 961 30 352
16 USA 933 -11 177
17 Denmark 927 -6 191
18 Mexico 924 -14 166
19 Paraguay 915 14 262
20 C?te d'Ivoire 909 12 240
Rank Team Pts:
Jul 06 +/-Rank
May 06 +/-Pts: May 06
21 Colombia 902 6 221
22 Sweden 886 -6 177
23 Croatia 854 0 168
24 Guinea 850 27 253
25 Ghana 839 23 239
26 Romania 834 -1 149
27 Turkey 824 -13 98
28 Ecuador 821 11 190
29 Egypt 819 -12 111
30 Poland 809 -1 132
31 Tunisia 805 -10 112
32 Greece 780 -12 86
33 Australia 738 9 126
34 Russia 733 3 88
35 Senegal 726 -7 47
36 Serbia and Montenegro 724 8 114
37 Bulgaria 716 0 71
38 Honduras 695 4 83
39 Republic of Ireland 694 -8 23
40 Morocco 681 -4 35
Rank Team Pts:
Jul 06 +/-Rank
May 06 +/-Pts: May 06
41 Scotland 677 18 101
42 Peru 661 24 111
43 Bosnia-Herzegovina 660 20 99
44 Slovakia 659 -3 46
45 Costa Rica 636 -19 -47
46 Chile 630 18 73
47 Iran 624 -24 -62
48 Togo 622 13 53
49 Japan 615 -31 -90
50 Uzbekistan 606 10

Posted By: mr carra, Jul 12, 14:41:12