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Brazil and Ghana
take annual awards
For the fourth year in a row, Brazil
take the Top Team title after fi nishing
the year at the top of the table and 44
points clear of their nearest competitor,
a position they resiliently held on
to for the entire year. The Czech
Republic, fi nishing in second position,
bettered their end-of-2004 ranking
by two positions, while other notable
movers within the top ten include the
Netherlands (3 rd , up 3 ranks on 2004),
Mexico (5 th , up 2) and the USA (8 th ,
up 3), who made it to their highest
Rank Team +/- Ranks Rank Points +/- Points
Nov-Dec 05 End of 04 Dec 05 Nov-Dec 05
1 Brazil 0 1 840 -1
2 Czech Republic 0 4 796 0
3 Netherlands 0 6 791 0
4 Argentina 0 3 772 -2
5 Mexico +2 7 768 0
Spain +1 5 768 -3
France 0 2 768 -4
8 USA 0 11 767 +1
9 England 0 8 757 0
10 Portugal 0 9 754 0
11 Turkey 0 14 748 -1
12 Italy 0 10 741 0
13 Denmark 0 14 733 +1
14 Sweden 0 13 732 +1
15 Japan 0 17 715 +2
16 Germany 0 19 708 -2
Greece +1 18 708 0
18 Uruguay 0 16 706 0
19 Iran 0 20 703 +1
20 Croatia 0 23 701 0
21 Costa Rica 0 27 699 0
22 Poland +1 25 696 0
23 Cameroon -1 23 695 -2
24 Colombia +1 26 692 0
Nigeria +1 21 692 0
Ireland Republic -1 12 692 -4
27 Romania 0 29 686 0
28 Tunisia 0 35 685 +2
29 Korea Republic 0 22 680 -2
30 Senegal 0 31 672 0
Paraguay 0 30 672 0
32 Egypt +1 34 665 +2
33 Saudi Arabia -1 28 663 -6
34 Russia 0 32 662 0
ever ranking position (6 th ) in July of
this year. Ghana eventually won the
race for the Best Mover title, shaking
off competition from Ethiopia and
Togo, while Ethiopia stood out when
it came to improving ranking, climbing
39 places in 2005 to reach 112 th , with
Togo (56 th , up 33) and Scotland (60 th ,
up 26) also gaining more than 25
ranking positions. Scotland top the
list of most richly rewarded matches in
2005 by collecting 44.4 points in their
3-0 victory over Slovenia in October – a
Rank Team +/- Ranks Rank Points +/- Points
Nov-Dec 05 End of 04 Dec 05 Nov-Dec 05
35 Switzerland +1 51 656 +2
36 Morocco -1 33 655 0
37 Ecuador 0 39 651 +1
38 Norway 0 35 649 0
39 Bulgaria 0 37 638 0
40 Ukraine 0 57 630 +3
41 Honduras 0 59 628 +2
42 Jamaica +1 49 626 +1
Cote d’Ivoire -1 40 626 0
44 Israel 0 48 622 0
45 Slovakia 0 53 621 +2
46 Finland -1 43 614 -5
47 Serbia & Montenegro 0 46 612 0
48 Australia +1 58 610 0
49 South Africa -1 38 609 -2
50 Ghana 0 77 608 0
50 Trinidad and Tobago +1 63 608 +1
52 Bahrain +1 49 603 +2
53 Zimbabwe +1 60 601 +1
54 Iraq +20 44 597 +51
55 Belgium -3 45 596 -7
56 Togo 0 89 585 +3
Guatemala -1 71 585 +1
58 Zambia -1 70 579 0
59 Uzbekistan -1 47 573 -5
60 Scotland +1 86 572 0
61 Angola +1 72 570 0
Belarus -2 69 570 -3
63 Mali -4 51 569 -4
64 Chile -1 74 562 0
65 Bosnia-Herzegovina 0 79 561 +1
66 Peru -1 66 560 0
67 Venezuela 0 62 555 -1
68 Slovenia -5 42 553 -9
FIFA World Cup qualifying win which
unfortunately came too late for the
Scots. Trinidad and Tobago were the
most active team in 2005, contesting
28 matches. To date, a total of 743
matches have been played in 2005 with
some additional games outstanding
(SAFF Cup, friendlies), which means
2005 was rather ‘quiet’ in comparison
to previous years. Almost half of the
matches (352) played were part of the
preliminary competition for the 2006
FIFA World Cup Germany.
Rank Team +/- Ranks Rank Points +/- Points
Nov-Dec 05 End of 04 Dec 05 Nov-Dec 05
69 Austria +3 83 550 0
Latvia +1 65 550 -2
71 Wales +1 68 549 -1
72 China PR -3 54 548 -6
Kuwait -4 54 548 -7
74 Hungary -3 64 547 -4
75 Cuba 0 76 546 +1
76 Estonia +1 81 543 +2
77 Congo DR -1 78 541 -1
78 Panama 0 100 536 +1
79 Guinea +1 86 531 0
80 Algeria +2 73 522 -2
Libya +3 61 522 -1
82 Albania +3 86 517 0
Korea DPR +2 95 517 0
84 Canada +3 90 512 0
85 United Arab Emirates +3 82 509 -1
86 Jordan -2 40 503 -18
87 Macedonia FYR +3 92 502 0
Burkina Faso +2 84 502 -3
89 Rwanda +17 99 488 +42
Kenya +3 74 488 -7
91 Oman -12 56 484 -50
92 Sudan +1 114 483 -4
Singapore +3 112 483 +1
94 Iceland -1 93 482 -5
95 Qatar -14 66 478 -49
96 Cyprus +1 108 472 0
Bolivia 0 94 472 -2
98 Haiti -7 95 465 -31
Syria +9 85 465 +23
100 Lithuania -2 100 464 -1
101 Uganda +8 109 463 +29
Botswana -2 102 463 0
Rank Team +/- Ranks Rank Points +/- Points
Nov-Dec 05 End of 04 Dec 05 Nov-Dec 05
103 Northern Ireland -2 107 461 +1
104 Gabon -2 109 459 0
Georgia -4 104 459 -3
106 Malawi -2 109 451 +1
107 Moldova +1 114 442 +1
108 Armenia +2 119 431 +1
109 Indonesia -6 91 418 -37
110 Congo +1 117 411 -2
111 Thailand -6 79 408 -41
112 Ethiopia +16 151 399 +48
113 Benin +2 122 396 0
114 Azerbaijan -1 113 394 -6
115 Barbados +4 121 386 -1
116 Turkmenistan -4 98 385 -16
117 Hong Kong 0 133 383 -7
118 Malta +5 134 371 0
Cape Verde Islands +2 129 371 -1
120 Vietnam SR -6 103 368 -31
New Zealand -2 95 368 -20
122 Liechtenstein +2 142 366 +1
123 Malaysia -7 120 358 -35
124 El Salvador -4 106 357 -15
125 Andorra +2 138 356 0
Lebanon -5 105 356 -16
127 India +8 132 355 +31
128 St. Lucia -3 114 344 -15
129 St. Kitts & Nevis -1 118 337 -14
130 St. Vincent/Grenadines -4 137 336 -22
Mozambique 0 126 336 -8
132 Faroe Islands -1 131 325 -7
133 Maldives +14 139 323 +41
134 Swaziland -3 126 322 -10
135 Fiji +1 135 317 -6
Liberia -2 123 317 -11
137 Kazakhstan +2 147 314 -1
Palestine 0 126 314 -8
139 Yemen -5 124 310 -15
140 Solomon Islands -2 130 303 -13
141 Tajikistan 0 136 299 -10
Tahiti -1 124 299 -14
143 Mauritius +1 140 284 -8
144 Sri Lanka 0 140 281 -11
145 Lesotho +1 144 267 -16
146 Vanuatu +2 143 266 -10
147 Burundi -4 152 265 -40
Myanmar -5 144 265 -43
149 Madagascar 0 147 264 -9
150 Luxembourg +2 155 256 0
151 Grenada -1 144 249 -20
Rank Team +/- Ranks Rank Points +/- Points
Nov-Dec 05 End of 04 Dec 05 Nov-Dec 05
152 Nicaragua +2 158 244 0
Surinam -1 149 244 -13
154 Antigua +1 153 239 -4
155 San Marino +2 164 238 0
156 Chinese Taipei 0 155 237 -4
157 Kyrgyzstan -4 150 235 -10
158 Pakistan +10 177 231 +51
159 Chad -1 168 229 -3
160 Bangladesh +10 167 224 +48
161 Namibia -1 158 219 -5
Bermuda -3 157 219 -13
163 Sierra Leone -1 160 213 +9
164 Gambia -3 154 205 -10
165 Tanzania +10 172 196 +46
166 Papua New Guinea -2 161 191 -6
167 Guyana 0 182 185 0
168 Netherlands Antilles -2 163 184 -6
169 Eritrea +3 169 182 +13
170 Laos -5 162 180 -15
171 British Virgin Islands -8 165 176 -26
172 Dominica -3 165 171 -8
173 Equatorial Guinea -2 171 169 -4
174 Dominican Republic -1 170 157 -7
175 Nepal +6 177 153 +17
176 Seychelles -2 173 152 -4
177 Niger -1 173 144 -5
178 Mauritania 0 175 139 -5
179 Mongolia 0 185 137 -1
180 Belize +1 181 134 -2
181 Cayman Islands -5 176 133 -16
182 Samoa -2 179 131 -6
183 Central African Rep. 0 180 128 -4
184 Somalia +4 193 111 +23
185 Tonga -1 183 110 -4
186 Guinea-Bissau +5 190 109 +34
187 New Caledonia -2 186 104 -3
188 Cambodia -3 184 95 -12
189 Afghanistan +9 200 85 +31
190 Bhutan -1 187 84 -1
191 Philippines -4 188 77 -13
192 Macao -2 188 75 -3
193 Bahamas -1 192 68 -4
194 Cook Islands 0 190 65 -5
195 Puerto Rico -2 194 62 -9
196 US Virgin Islands -1 196 58 -5
197 Sao Tome e Principe -1 195 55 -4
198 Anguilla -1 197 52 -3
199 Brunei Darussalam 0 199 49 -2
200 Djibouti +1 201 46 +13
Rank Team +/- Ranks Rank Points +/- Points
Nov-Dec 05 End of 04 Dec 05 Nov-Dec 05
200 Aruba 0 198 46 -3
202 Montserrat 0 202 30 -1
203 Turks and Caicos 0 203 22 -1
204 Guam 0 205 20 0
205 American Samoa 0 204 15 0
Note: Teams inactive since 1997 and teams which
have not played yet do not appear in the table.
The Ranking System
The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking
evaluates all matches played by
senior national teams, i.e.
World Cup fi nal matches
World Cup preliminary matches
continental championship fi nal
matches
continental championship
preliminary matches
friendly matches.
The calculation of a team’s points
from a certain match is based on
the following six criteria:
winning, drawing and losing
number of goals
home or away match
importance of the match
(multiplication factor)
strength of the opponent
regional strength
(multiplication factor)
To ensure that the FIFA/Coca-Cola
World Ranking always refl ects
the current status, FIFA primarily
evaluates matches played in the 12
months prior to the date on which
it is issued. Performance over the
previous years is also taken into
account, however. Basically, the
score obtained from the current
12 months is added to that of the
immediately preceding seven years,
with each previous year being
devalued continually.
magazine INSIDE
FEBRUARY 2006 FEBRUARY 2006
MAGAZINEINSIDE
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