The Volokh Conspiracy
[Todd Zywicki, July 22, 2005 at 10:02am] Trackbacks
FIFA World Soccer Rankings:

I'm excited, but skeptical, of the latest FIFA World Soccer Rankings, which has the U.S. ranked 6th (up 4 spots) ahead of France, England, Germany, Portugal, and Spain, among others.

footie fan:
You should be more than just skeptical, given FIFA's methodology. In my opinion, these rankings do not give enough weight to superior performances in the most important competitions (e.g. World CUp, Euro 2004), and generally weigh most regional competitions equally (i.e. intra-North American competitions are given similar [though it's not exact, it is very close] weight as intra-European cups, which, to any neutral, knowledgeable football observer, is bunk). A perfect example is Greece, winners of Euro 2004 last year, which has fallen below teams that did not even qualify for Euro 2004 - Greece did lose two World Cup 2006 qualifying games within the last 9 months, though this should be neglible.

As far as the US ranking, it is too high considering their inferior regional competition; around 11th or 12th (considering their quarterfinal performance in WC '02) would be reasonable.


here's a link to the FIFA methodology
7.22.2005 11:27am
Tbag (mail) (www):
I keep telling people that the U.S. is going to surprise people during this decade, but nobody will listen to me. I agree with footie above that these rankings are not the best way to judge whether the U.S. is really in ascendancy, but our soccer culture here is much deeper and more focused than it was in my (earlier) youth.

I think that in my lifetime (I'm 25) I will see the U.S. national team playing in a World Cup final match. But don't try telling that to my French roommate or my friends in Brazil.
7.22.2005 12:41pm
NaG (mail):
If you think the world gets pissed off over Israel, wait until the United States wins the World Cup. I don't know what would piss them off more, the idea that there is no sport left that America hasn't dominated, or the collective shrug the American public would give after having won it.
7.22.2005 5:23pm
Steve Smith (mail) (www):
Didn't the U.S. just lose to England? Without Owen, Beckham, Rio, etc.? At home? Methinks CONCACAF is increasingly becoming the Pac-10 of world soccer.
7.22.2005 5:40pm
SportsBiz (mail) (www):
As footie says, the rankings skew favorably to the US because CONCACAF is so weak. The US will get bonus points for the Gold Cup win over an incredibly weak field made even weaker by Mexico's inexplicable collapse. I'm not complaining because I too enjoy watching the rest of the world gnash their teeth as the US rises in the rankings. Truth will tell out next year in Germany and let's hope for as good or better a showing than 2002.
7.27.2005 12:30am
Tom Markham:
I believe that US being ranked in the top 10 even the top 30 is bullshit. They have not performed to world class opposition such as Italy, Brazil, Spain, England, Germany, Holland, Argentina, Mexico etc.... (the list is countless). They will never and should never win the World Cup so why the hell are they even ranked in the top 10. The day i see america win the world cup is the day i die. I will even slit my own throat before the final whistle in the final is blown. May my blood spill over the screen before an american victory is seen. I believe that a top 10 nation should be able to advance past the second stage which america will clearly not do aginst the nations they are playing aginst.
5.9.2006 12:02am
Edwin Harress:
In reply to this Tom Markham statement i completely agree with his proclamation that America will never win as they will never and can never dominate this sport. Also another conspiracy is that the fact that these rankings are based on the coca-cola franchise (which evidently is a USA based brand) and they are biased. In saying this America again have changed the status quo with their large amounts of money and choice of opposition. Also America is the second best "ranked" team in their group only after the Czech Republic which are 2nd in the world. From a neutral fan: Fix up the rankings.
5.11.2006 12:07am
Igor Pasalic:
Yes i agree with Edwin. The USA can never, and will never win the world cup.

P.S.

I could pull a better soccer team out of my arse...
6.5.2006 7:51am
UsA (mail):
1st off your all pissed that the USA dominates in every sport imaginable, I know it sucks that that your teams dont win, but such is life! 2nd USA has quality wins over Mexico and Portugal in the last 2 years. The loss to England, which was a friendly match meant completely nothing! The USA didnt have thier best players as well...... Lastly about the grouping for the the World Cup your crazy if you think that Italy and Czech Republic are not quality teams, no other group has that highly ranked teams. Italy is a 3 time World Cup champion....... Let the results anwser for themselves in this year world cup.......
6.10.2006 3:37pm
danjar77:
FIFA ranking is a joke....a big one! It's embarrasing, please fix it...
6.11.2006 12:21am
Dookie (mail):
USA Doesn't have the quality to become world champs.They are over shadowed by the big countries of Brazil,Argentina,England,germany,etc and as far as the world ranking goes I believe it is a shame to futbol everywhere.Usa Ranked 4?!!!Germany ranked 19?!!! FIFA wat the hell are u doin!
6.11.2006 10:31pm
jjk (mail):
I agree that the rankings seem a bit odd. I was very surpised to see the US as #5, and just as surpised to see Mexico 4, and Czech 2! What about Germany, Italy, et al? Nonetheless, I'd like to see the US do well, as I imagine good soccer from the US being good for the sport as whole, just as is good soccer from Africa, and Asia.

But, rankings don't really mean much of anything. Afterall, it's performance on the field that counts. I'm sure we've all seen cases where top ranked teams have failed to advance.

I didn't realize that winning a world cup is "dominating" the sport, as Markham and Harress seem to believe. Winning several might be, winning one - hardly domination. Besides, "never" is a very long time.
6.12.2006 10:21am
socceroo thru & thru:
The States just lost to the czech republic 3-0 need i say anymore?
6.12.2006 3:21pm
soccer player (mail):
listen fist of all you cant say that the US is the best at any sport ARE YOU F*CKING NUTs listen
fist of all as everyone knows Brasil is taking the cup again. second of all the US is going to get killed by Italia. soo they are goin to be out. i think its funny how you say US is the best at every sports listen have you looked at the track records lately, yeah sure there is some records from the US but not ALL of them. yeah what about roman Wrestling hey yeah some from the US have won that but haven't set any records. by the way was the guy that broke the 100 metter record was he from the US i dont think soo. so befor you talk sh*t learn some stuff about sports. yeah US lost to Czech Republic 3-0 they didn't even scored...... i can see Brazil &Argentina in the final
6.13.2006 7:38pm
Big Ben (mail):
Just to remind the Americans that Japan are the world Baseball Champions!!lol.
Too early to say who will be in the final as any team can have a bad day/ref. Expect Brazil and a European team, nice to be England but I won't hold my breath!!
6.16.2006 6:48am
UsA (mail):
Its called the oylimpics, any of you watch them ask me who always has the most medals in both oylimpics? But not really that important.... This is soccer were talking about.... The USA had a huge tie Vs Italy and were down to only 9 men on the field.
6.21.2006 11:40am
Jack Fisher (mail):
USA are an absolute joke as far as soccer is concerned. They shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as Italy, Germany, Brasil etc.
6.24.2006 8:25am
Socceroo:
The US Goal against italy was an own goal by an italian defender which was in no part because of skill by the USA.
7.12.2006 7:13am

PicoSearch
Help
Lijit Search