FIFA rankings - why they are important and how to beat the system

[Addona]

1 hour ago, Kent said:

OK, so with the loss to Jamaica last night, things don't look good. According to the prognosis tool on the FIFA website, we won't pass any CONCACAF teams this month, and in fact El Salvador will move into a tie with us. We move from 331 to 352 points, and El Salvador will move from 319 to 352.

So this Gold Cup that has gotten a lot of us all giddy, actually hurts our ranking within the confederation, which really is what matters for the World Cup qualifying draw.

True. But I'm hopeful that our ranking will continue to improve as we drop 2013 and 2014 games out the back end!

[Kent]

1 hour ago, Addona said:

True. But I'm hopeful that our ranking will continue to improve as we drop 2013 and 2014 games out the back end!

I'm not an expert on this, but it looks to me like Curacao is catchable, and El Salvador of course since we will be tied with them. I imagine all the others are out of reach. If I'm right about that, and we reach that potential, we would be ranked 9th in CONCACAF at the time of the WCQ draw. If it's the same format as last time, that puts us in the 9th to 21st pot... so no better off than teams like Guyana and Grenada.

[WheatsheafSK]

I am likely in the minority, but having extra (and winnable) games against Dominica and Belize served Canada well last time.  Having more "real games", especially in more tropical climates with lower quality playing fields, helped the team prepare for the group stage. It would be nice to have Canada ranked higher, but if they have to do some qualifying games again it is not the end of the world.

[Kent]

1 hour ago, WheatsheafSK said:

I am likely in the minority, but having extra (and winnable) games against Dominica and Belize served Canada well last time.  Having more "real games", especially in more tropical climates with lower quality playing fields, helped the team prepare for the group stage. It would be nice to have Canada ranked higher, but if they have to do some qualifying games again it is not the end of the world.

Getting World Cup qualifiers against those countries are fine, they aren't the problem presented by our poor ranking. If we were ranked better though, then in the round where we always fail we could potentially swap out a Honduras from our group in favour of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

[harrycoyster]

Do we have any information on if WC qualifying will change at all from the 2018 cycle? I know VM was saying changes are going to be made, but I haven't heard a timeline.

[ReedOnTheGrand]

2 hours ago, WheatsheafSK said:

I am likely in the minority, but having extra (and winnable) games against Dominica and Belize served Canada well last time.  Having more "real games", especially in more tropical climates with lower quality playing fields, helped the team prepare for the group stage. It would be nice to have Canada ranked higher, but if they have to do some qualifying games again it is not the end of the world.

It effects our seeding so then we have 2 top teams in our group just to get to the Hex.

[ReedOnTheGrand]

10 minutes ago, harrycoyster said:

Do we have any information on if WC qualifying will change at all from the 2018 cycle? I know VM was saying changes are going to be made, but I haven't heard a timeline.

6 slots now so maybe no hex.

[harrycoyster]

15 minutes ago, ReedOnTheGrand said:

6 slots now so maybe no hex.

That change isn't until the 2026 cycle.

[ReedOnTheGrand]

11 minutes ago, harrycoyster said:

That change isn't until the 2026 cycle.

For some reason I thought it was 2022

[Unnamed Trialist]

New FIFA ranking is out tomorrow.

We should be at 352 pts, four positions higher or so, to 96 it seems, but nowhere near trapping the next Concacaf nation, T&T, who are almost 25 spots ahead of us. 

[Blackjack15]

We're supposed to move up tomorrow to 96th in the world 

this is just the beginning ??

[Rheo]

Came in at 95

http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/brazil-replaces-world-champ-germany-top-fifa-rankings/

[mpg_29]

Jamaica at 57th...now ahead of Panama, Honduras...

[Unnamed Trialist]

As we've gone up 5 spots where former nearests rival T&T has dropped 5, the spread between nearest Concacaf rivals above us is tighter. We were 23 spots behind the nearest rival, now we have Honduras, T&T and Curacao (biggest loser this last month overall) within 20. 

 

[harrycoyster]

14- Mexico +2

21- Costa Rica +5

26- USA +9

55- Haiti -6

57- Jamaica +19

61- Panama -9

75- Honduras -3

83- T&T -5

86- Curacao -18

95- Canada +5

100- Guatemala +2

 

We gained +21 points from the Gold Cup and are now 18 points back from Madagascar at 90th and 21 points clear of Guatemala at 100th place.

Edited August 10, 2017 by harrycoyster

[mrstepp817]

Should be some more movement in the next two ranking cycles with WCQ finishing up....

[Blackjack15]

5 hours ago, mrstepp817 said:

Should be some more movement in the next two ranking cycles with WCQ finishing up....

Right.

How much would Canada advance in the FIFA Rankings if they beat Jamaica? Considering they are 57th in the world and we are 95th 

[Zem]

42 minutes ago, Blackjack15 said:

Right.

How much would Canada advance in the FIFA Rankings if they beat Jamaica? Considering they are 57th in the world and we are 95th 

Our point score would increase by 16 points with a win. The position would depend on the movement of the other teams, but based on this month's rankings that would put us up to 92nd. A draw would see our score drop by 8 points (we're passively trending downward because of ranking decay this month) and it would go down by 20 with a loss (putting us in 96th and 99th in this month's ranking, respectively).

Worth noting that it being a friendly means it isn't worth a lot of points (x3 less than a game at the Gold Cup), although a draw against them would still be beneficial in the long run regardless.

Edited August 11, 2017 by Zem

[Blackjack15]

Very important question:

With the win against Jamaica (57th) how much will we (95th) move up in the FIFA Rankings? 

I believe it comes out September 10th

[Jith12]

6 hours ago, Blackjack15 said:

Very important question:

With the win against Jamaica (57th) how much will we (95th) move up in the FIFA Rankings? 

I believe it comes out September 10th

It is possible that we don't move up at all or gain any points if this "non-FIFA" thing is correct. If the match is not recognized as an official friendly we don't get any points for the win. At the moment the match still isn't listed on FIFA.com so it is not officially recognized. I emailed the department at FIFA that deals with updating info from games yesterday inquiring about this but haven't heard anything back from them yet. If I don't hear back or if the game isn't added to FIFA.com within the week I plan to email the CSA for clarification. I will keep you posted on any updates. On another note, FIFA has added the el Salvador friendly to their website even though not all details are confirmed yet. This is all very confusing. 

[Keegan]

I could see Jamaica wanting it to be a non FIFA friendly. They have a good ranking and ours is pretty brutal and we aren't likely to lose at home.

[xabuep2]

Bravo ! The game Canada-Jamaica is an official  FIFA match.  368  are the possible ranking points !

[xabuep2]

7 minutes ago, xabuep2 said:

Bravo ! The game Canada-Jamaica is an official  FIFA match.  368  are the possible ranking points !

However  Canada will still remain in the 10th place of Concacaf. A friendly against Haiti or Trinidad would be valuable for FIFA points

Edited September 5, 2017 by xabuep2

[Kent]

I guess this is relevant for this thread.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/09/04/fifa-review-rankings-system-friendlies-harm-englands-world-cup/

I'm not sure why it would be expected for a team that didn't make the final 8 of the last Euro Cup, or the final 16 of the last World Cup, to be ranked in the top 7 in the world, but hey, if it causes the review and things can be improved that's great.

[Jith12]

5 hours ago, xabuep2 said:

Bravo ! The game Canada-Jamaica is an official  FIFA match.  368  are the possible ranking points !

So let me get this straight: If the points for the other teams stays the same, we will move up to 92nd. Is this correct?