The system, like the previous ones, is extremely similar to that of
a league, though with changes made to ensure that it is still
representative of the teams' performance despite playing differing
numbers of matches per annum, and the differing strength of opposition
that teams have to face. The factors taken into account are as follows:
- Match result
- Match status
- Opposition strength
- Regional strength
Teams' actual scores are a result of the average points gained over
each calendar year; matches from the previous four years are
considered, with more weight being given to recent ones. Teams must
have played at least 5 matches within the last twelve months to gain
ranking points.
[edit] Win, draw or defeat
In previous years a complicated system of points allocation was
used, depending on how strong the opponent was, and how large the loss
margin, which allowed weaker losing teams to gain points when playing a
much stronger opposition, if they managed to put up a decent match.
With the new system, the points allocation is simpler: three points for
a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss, in line with
most league systems around the world.
In the event of a match being decided by a penalty shootout, the
winning team receives two points, and the losing team one point.
Result |
Points |
Win (no penalty shootout) |
3 |
Draw |
1 |
Loss (no penalty shootout) |
0 |
Win (penalty shootout) |
2 |
Loss (penalty shootout) |
1 |
[edit] Match status
Different matches have different importance to teams, and FIFA has
tried to respect this by using a weighting system, where the most
significant matches are in the World Cup finals [10],
and the lowest weighted are friendly matches. FIFA states that it
wishes to recognise that friendlies are still important, since they
make up half of the competitive matches counted in the rankings.[11] FIFA also stated, however, that it did not plan to make any adjustment for teams that qualify directly for major tournaments.[12]
The match status multipliers are as follows:
[edit] Opponent strength
Obviously, a win against a very highly ranked opponent is a
considerably greater achievement than a win against a low-rated
opponent, so the strength of the opposing team is a factor.
The new system uses an opposition strength factor based on team rankings. The previous system was based on points difference.
The formula used is:
Teams ranked 150th and below are assigned the minimum multiplier of 0.50.
- Example 1: the opposition team is currently ranked 8th in the world:
- so the opposition strength multiplier is 1.92
- Example 2: the opposition team is currently ranked 125th in the world:
- so the opposition strength multiplier is 0.75
- Example 3: the opposition team is currently ranked 188th in the world:
Below 150th, so the opposition strength multiplier is the minimum 0.50
[edit] Regional strength
In addition to the opposition strength multiplier, FIFA considers
the relative strength of entire confederations in the calculation. Each
confederation is assigned a weighting between 0.85 and 1.0, based on
the relative performance of the confederations in qualifying for the
last three World Cups. After the 2006 World Cup, the weightings are:
Confederation |
Weighting |
UEFA (Europe) |
1.00 |
CONMEBOL (South America) |
0.98 |
AFC (Asia) |
0.85 |
CAF (Africa) |
0.85 |
CONCACAF (North and Central America and Caribbean) |
0.85 |
OFC (Oceania) |
0.85 |
The multiplier used in the calculation is the average of the regional strength weighting of the two teams:
[edit] Assessment period
Matches played over the last four years (48 months) are included in
the calculation, but there is a weighting to put more emphasis on
recent results. Previously an eight year period was used. The date
weighting is as follows:
Date of match |
Multiplier |
Within the last 12 months |
x 1.0 |
12-24 months ago |
x 0.5 |
24-36 months ago |
x 0.3 |
36-48 months ago |
x 0.2 |
A team must play at least 5 matches per year to be included in the rankings.
[edit] Ranking formula
The final ranking points figure is multiplied by 100 and rounded to the nearest whole number.
[edit] Examples
The following examples use these hypothetical teams and
confederations, and assume the games are played within the last 12
months:
- Amplistan is currently ranked 2nd in the world and is a member of confederation XYZ (weighting 1.0);
- Bestrudia is currently ranked 188th in the world and is a member of confederation ABC (weighting 0.88);
- Conesto is currently ranked 39th in the world and is a member of confederation QRS (weighting 0.98);
- Delphiz is currently ranked 30th in the world and is a member of confederation HIJ (weighting 0.94).
A friendly match is played between Amplistan and Bestrudia. Amplistan wins 2-1.
Match |
Team |
Result points |
Match status |
Opposition strength |
Regional strength |
Ranking points |
Amplistan vs. Bestrudia (friendly)
Result: 2-1 |
Amplistan
Bestrudia |
3
0 |
1.0
1.0 |
0.50
1.98 |
0.94
0.94 |
141
0 |
Bestrudia gets no ranking points because it lost the game, so all factors are multiplied by zero.
Amplistan's 141 ranking points are calculated like this:
- 3 points for the win;
- multiplied by 1.0 for match status (friendly match);
- multiplied by 0.50 for opposition strength (Bestrudia is ranked 188th, so it has the minimum 0.50 weighting);
- multiplied by 0.94 for regional strength (the average of the weightings for the two teams' confederations);
- multiplied by 100.
More examples:
Match |
Team |
Result points |
Match status |
Opposition strength |
Regional strength |
Ranking points |
Amplistan vs. Bestrudia (friendly)
Result: 1-2 |
Amplistan
Bestrudia |
0
3 |
1.0
1.0 |
0.50
1.98 |
0.94
0.94 |
0
558 |
Amplistan vs. Bestrudia (friendly)
Result: 1-1 |
Amplistan
Bestrudia |
1
1 |
1.0
1.0 |
0.50
1.98 |
0.94
0.94 |
47
186 |
Amplistan vs. Bestrudia (World Cup finals)
Result: 2-1 |
Amplistan
Bestrudia |
3
0 |
4.0
4.0 |
0.50
1.98 |
0.94
0.94 |
564
0 |
Amplistan vs. Bestrudia (World Cup finals)
Result: 1-1 (Bestrudia wins on penalties) |
Amplistan
Bestrudia |
1
2 |
4.0
4.0 |
0.50
1.98 |
0.94
0.94 |
188
1488 |
Conesto vs. Delphiz (Continental cup qualifiers)
Result: 4-0 |
Conesto
Delphiz |
3
0 |
2.5
2.5 |
1.70
1.61 |
0.96
0.96 |
1224
0 |
Conesto vs. Delphiz (Continental cup qualifiers)
Result: 0-1 |
Conesto
Delphiz |
0
3 |
2.5
2.5 |
1.70
1.61 |
0.96
0.96 |
0
1159 |
Conesto vs. Amplistan (World Cup finals)
Result: 0-0 (Amplistan wins on penalties) |
Conesto
Amplistan |
1
2 |
4.0
4.0 |
1.98
1.61 |
0.99
0.99 |
784
1275 |