New FIFA World Rankings Released (England below Cameroon!)

nikebee · 2 Jul 2008 at 13:05

The new FIFA World Rankings came out today for International squads.

England have dropped to 15th from 9th, and are now behind Turkey, Cameroon and Romania. England's lowest ranking since 2000, when they were 17th.

Scotland are 16th, Northern Ireland are 33rd whilst Wales are 54th.

Spain are now ranked 1st in the World after winning Euro 2008.

It's pretty fair to say that the media hype that England get and the media frenzy that creates A mentality that England should win damn near any competition they enter is surely unjust now.

You've got to wonder what changes are going to have to be made to get England (or any of the British teams) to that stage again though where they're generally and realistically considered as top contenders.

Awesome Sauce:
http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html

Gilly · 2 Jul 2008 at 13:12

I'm confident that without Macca things will move on.

semi-pro waster · 2 Jul 2008 at 13:14

Interesting but I'd always take the rankings with a hefty dose of salt. Maybe you are right and it will calm expectations somewhat for England though, I can't see it making much odds to Scotland mind - the mere idea of us being amongst the top contenders is enough to make me laugh. Top 16 in the World, superb but complete mince as well.

Visionary · 2 Jul 2008 at 16:46

They seem pretty accurate to me, bar a few anomalies. Better than usual that's for sure.

peetee · 2 Jul 2008 at 18:22

Scotland deserve to be there tbh, after the most recent performances, they did cope quite well.

We'll sort ourselves out and get a decent ranking again under Capello, hes got a lot to work with.

FrankJH · 2 Jul 2008 at 18:46

Didnt Scotland beat France home and away?

Even if they didnt they deserve their top twenty place

England deserve higher than Cameroon but only just - world-class individuals that cant seemingly play as a team

We will rise but it will be a bumpy ride

semi-pro waster · 2 Jul 2008 at 18:51

FrankJH said:
Didnt Scotland beat France home and away?

Even if they didnt they deserve their top twenty place

Yep, home and away plus were very unlucky not to beat Italy or at least draw with them at Hampden. I'm under no illusions about Scotlands quality though, we more or less mugged France then put in a superb defensive performance and I'm fine with that but top 20 for Scotland is a bit mad frankly.

Visionary · 2 Jul 2008 at 18:52

Outside of the top 20 loads of teams are crap, there aren't any which are noticeably better than Scotland.

Greenlizard0 · 2 Jul 2008 at 19:21

The whole media hype that surrounds the English national team means I care very little now. Just...take away international friendly matches during the domestic season please.

FrankJH · 2 Jul 2008 at 19:28

semi-pro waster said:
Yep, home and away plus were very unlucky not to beat Italy or at least draw with them at Hampden. I'm under no illusions about Scotlands quality though, we more or less mugged France then put in a superb defensive performance and I'm fine with that but top 20 for Scotland is a bit mad frankly.

Scotland are better than Cameroon also though - so I personally think Scotland fully deserve their place on recent performances

aslco · 2 Jul 2008 at 19:45

The rankings are never accurate as im sur eyou all know. Cameroon and American teams get easier opponenets yet the competitions give just as many points. im not bothered too much, apart from the fact scotland are only 1 below us.

TBH. Wales, South Africa and Ecuador would have more than a chance of beating rank #50 Moldova.

Tute · 2 Jul 2008 at 19:46

semi-pro waster said:
Interesting but I'd always take the rankings with a hefty dose of salt.

Agreed. Despite their win I don't think Spain are the best in the world at all.

weringo · 2 Jul 2008 at 20:08

These rankings never reflect the quality of the teams. Turkey did well the last tournament but they shouldn't be that high up.

Visionary · 2 Jul 2008 at 20:22

Turkey should be there, it's how your team is performing at the moment. England may have potential under Capello but they didn't even qualify for Euro 2008 so shouldn't be ahead of Turkey.

weringo · 2 Jul 2008 at 20:25

It should reflect the quality of the teams, not who happened to get lucky in a recent tournament. If England played Turkey tomorrow at a neutral ground England would be a huge favourite.

HangTime · 2 Jul 2008 at 21:42

lozzick said:
TBH. Wales, South Africa and Ecuador would have more than a chance of beating rank #50 Moldova.

Didn't Wales get dicked 3-2 by Moldova in a qualifier a while back?

wedgie · 2 Jul 2008 at 21:46

Nice to see the euro teams dominating.

Haiku · 2 Jul 2008 at 22:03

The extra weighting added for major tournaments should be reduced. Just look at the hangover Greece are suffering.

Tweek_1984 · 2 Jul 2008 at 23:36

Turkey shouldn't be there? Eh? They get to the semi's of the world cup and then the semi's of Euro 2008. Engerland didn't even qualify for the Euro's.

I blame a combination of the FA, the media and the general population. Too much expectation and pressure, not enough preperation or organisation.

Hopefully Capello won't completely balls things up in the WC qualifiers against the might of kazakhstan and such like, but then again it's England, so who knows.

trojan698 · 2 Jul 2008 at 23:38

Scotland should be above England, but apart from that it seems fairly accurate.