QuoteBeat the Czech and we could move up to 17th placed in March ones .......
Careful now. Best not to get caught at that sort of behaviour.Originally Posted by BonnieShels
Beat the Czech and we could move up to 17th placed in March ones .......
Are there any projections on how the upcoming Euros might change the rankings? I'm presuming being the strongest region in world football, it might cause a few seismic shifts in the placings...
Out of interest, any idea how they calculated those initial rankings? Were our results at the time so impressive relative to other sides to warrant being ranked sixth-best in the world?
Jeez Group B really is the group of death. All four teams in the top ten in the World. After that it has to be our group with 3 teams in the top 9. The other two groups only have one team in the top 10. Those two groups are the groups that the hosts are in. I'm not suggesting there's a conspiracy or anything ...
The two hosts were first seeds at the expense of top ten teams, so it's easily explainable that one. No great conspiracy theory. Now whether they should have been first seeds is a whole different kettle of fish.
Despite the fact that they are top seeds, there is still a disproportionate amount of top sides in the groups not containing Poland and Ukraine.
Top 10 sides in Groups B &C (not containing hosts) : 7 out of 8
Top 10 sides in Groups A & D( containing hosts) : 1 out of 8
Does seem a little bit odd. But then again who I am to question Footballs governing bodies? Its not like they have a questionable record in these matters. South Korea anyone? WC 2010 playoffs? Quatars WC bid? Yes these are FIFA but we all know just how cosy a relationship messrs Platini and Blatter have.
A&D were guaranteed no top 10 countries from pot 1, B&C were guaranteed 2.
Pot 2 had 3 of the top 10 and Russia (then 12th). Poland were fortunate to get the one team not in the top 10.
Pot 3 backs up your conspiracy theory though, with Sweden (18) and Greece (14) being drawn with the hosts.
Pot 4 had no top 10 sides.
I definitely don't think it's a conspiracy despite Pot 3. There was a 50/50 chance there of getting a top 10 side.
Probable World Rankings
1 Spain 1561 2 Netherlands 1379 3 Germany 1332 4 Uruguay 1289 5 Brazil 1157 6 England 1121 7 Portugal 1106 8 Argentina 1102 9 Italy 1062 10 Croatia 1049 11 Denmark 1025 12 Russia 1003 13 Greece 953 14 Chile 950 15 Côte d'Ivoire 944 16 France 938 17 Sweden 927 18 Switzerland 891 19
Republic of Ireland 872 20 Australia 868 21 Bosnia-Herzegovina 850 22 Mexico 849 23 Ghana 820 24 Norway 797 25 Paraguay 791 26 Serbia 779 27 Slovenia 765 28 Korea Republic 751 29 Turkey 747 30 Japan 740
Up to 18th next month, Go on YBIG. Doesn't make us a better team but a better ranking means a better draw.
Up to 13th in Europe.
1
Spain 1442 0 -119 2 Germany 1345 1 13 3 Uruguay 1309 1 20 4 Netherlands 1207 -2 -172 5 Portugal 1190 2 84 6 Brazil 1165 -1 8 7 England 1132 -1 11 8
Croatia 1114 2 65 9 Denmark 1069 2 44 10 Argentina 1066 -2 -36 11 Russia 1049 1 46 12
Italy 1041 -3 -21 13 Chile 967 1 17 14 Greece 961 -1 8 15 Côte d'Ivoire 951 0 7 16 France 938 0 0 17 Sweden 931 0 5 18
Republic of Ireland 891 1 19 18 Switzerland 891 0 0 20 Mexico 868 2 19
What is Ireland highest ranking ever?
How good a run woudl we need to beat it?
I guess even if we had a bad cup we would not drop too far due to playing high ranked teams, then again it won't be easy getting a higher
ranking for the same reason.
Our highest ever ranking was 6th in August of 1993. I believe that was the first occasion FIFA members were ever ranked. Very simple calculations were used. According to Wikipedia, teams received three points for a win and one point for a draw, irrespective, it appears, of whether or not the game was a competitive fixture. To get there, again, I imagine we'd need to go far this summer. Very far.
Interestingly, there's no team in the world that we haven't been ahead of at some point. Of the five teams that started ahead of us in the first ever rankings in August 1993 (Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden and Argentina), we have been ahead of them all at some point in the last 19 years.
Out of interest does anyone know does Steve Stauntons legacy as Ireland manager still play a part in the calculation of our rankings or will we have to wait till May 2012, four years on from Traps first match, to say the rankings are exclusively based on Traps results?
Probably asking too much for us to climb so high as a result of the EC but if we make a move into the top 15 I think we will have had some relative success there. A few draws would probably achieve that, which is not out of our reach.
Don't be so pessimistic. It's possible to win this thing with six 0-0 draws.
The Elo rankings have us in 20th, so top 20 is probably a very fair indication of our current level.
That goal.com article ranking us as the best team on current form is a curse. I just had a Polish friend ask me about it and wondering whether Ireland will really win the tournament.
Anyway, good to see us up the rankings. If we're genuinely the 19th best team in the world I'd eat my shoe but it's grand for seeding all the same.
As an aside, wouldn't it be a good thing to help develop national leagues if the ranking of a country was of benefit to the co-effecient, or whatever the system in use is, of its league? As in, Ireland would be rewarded for having a good team of football players so the domestic teams would start at a higher level in European cup competition, earning them more money, allowing them to attract better players and improve? A real way to reward a good football nation.
Which Goal article is this? You have a link?
Why shouldn't we be in the top 20s? We don't lose games very often and are well able to compete with teams in the top 20.
On your last point, it sounds great, but it looks a tad like piggybacking to me. What is a good football nation anyway? The FAI have historically relied upon clubs in England to develop Irish players. There is little to no direct link between the LOI and senior national team, unfortunately. The only links are indirect ones via players who've departed the league and "made it" in England. There's a lot of room for improvement in Irish football. It's something we have to work on ourselves. Sham rankings won't be coming to aid our cause any time soon, nor should they.
Disagree. I think that is a fair reflection of our standing in world football. Of the teams ranked below us the only team that I think are actually better than us is Paraguay.
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/3284/...-of-health-of-
What is wrong with piggybacking? My point is that if Irish clubs were rewarded for the national teams performance it'd be easier to develop the league here. Which, I think, makes sense. If a nation can produce a football team that can take on just about anyone then every advantage should be awarded to their national league.
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