FIFA World Cup Teams' Rankings

In this Section, you find how the Teams contesting the 2006 World Cup have been ranking at FIFA.

This page (below): Rank at the time of the Groups' drawing, in Leipzig, Germany (Nov. 2005), plus a few related remarks.

The remaining pages in this Section:

Nov.25, 2005 Rank	Final 2005 Rank Update	2006 Rank Update 1
2006 Rank Update 2	2006 Rank Update 3	2006 Rank Update 4
2006 Rank Update 5	Post-WorldCup Rank Update!	Post-WC Rank Update

— other pages have been added, as updates become available, the 2006 Rank Update 6 (Post-WorldCup Rank Update) reflecting the rank immediately after the 2006 World Cup.

2006 W.C. Group	Nov. 2005 Rank {}	Team	Points


F	1	Brazil ¤	841
E	2	Czech Republic	796
C	3	Netherlands	791
C	4	Argentina ¤	774
G	5	France ¤	772
H	6	Spain ¤	771
D	7	Mexico ¤	768
E	8	USA	766
B	9	England ¤	757
D	10	Portugal	754
E	12	Italy ¤	741
B	14	Sweden	731
F	15	Japan	713
A	16	Germany ¤	710
D	19	Iran	702
F	20	Croatia	701
A	21	Costa Rica	699
A	23	Poland	696
H	28	Tunisia	683
G	29	Korea Republic	682
B	30	Paraguay	672
H	32	Saudi Arabia	669
G	36	Switzerland	654
A	37	Ecuador	650
H	40	Ukraine	627
C	41	Côte d'Ivoire	626
C	47	Serbia and Montenegro	612
F	49	Australia	610
E	50	Ghana	608
B	51	Trinidad and Tobago	607
G	56	Togo	582
D	62	Angola	570

¤ Team seeded for the 2006 World Cup (to table top)

Here is a Table displaying the 2006 World Cup FIFA Seedings Rank

There is a shorter version of the above Table, where Squads are listed alphabetically.

For the new criteria underlying FIFA's ranking calculation, see the Post-WC Rank Update page;
the criteria used up to the World Cup has been available on , on FIFA's site.

______________________________
Footnote:

Above Rank: as available, at FIFA, at the time of the World Cup Groups' drawing, in Leipzig, Germany

— Both the first 2006 update and the last 2005 update for the FIFA World Ranking carry very few alterations, as compared to the data displayed above, dated Nov. 05. 2005, on the FIFA Web page.
— Among these few alterations, the most noticeable one, at the closing of 2005, was the inversion of Mexico, Spain and France's placement, all then sharing fifth place, with 768 points, but again reverted in 2006: Spain and France sharing 5th place and Mexico, a point behind, sharing 7th with the United States, which previously was alone in 7th. Other than this, Angola went down a couple of places, at the start of 2006 (Angola has occupied the bottom rank, among the National Squads that have qualified for this World Cup, since the FIFA Teams' Ranks were first added to this eBook; so the small change just mentioned is hardly relevant, as this African Squad remains at the bottom of the list.)
— In February, 2006 (see 2006 Rank Update 2), Spain, France and Mexico continued their private dance around 5th., 6th., and 7th. places, which they had been upstaging since this eBook first included the FIFA Teams' Ranks; in which dance they were now joined by the United States, theoretically in 8th. place, but truly in joined 6th with Mexico and Spain, a single point behind France. By the 2006 Rank Update 3, the United States had moved ahead of this group, a single point behind fourth-placed Argentina and ahead of sixth-placed Spain (the United States' best-ever ranking position), whereas France had conversely dropped to 8th, behind Mexico. The recently played was responsible for a couple of conspicuous alterations (in view of the above listing), in the 2006 Rank Update 2 (Feb. 2006). Here are the highlights: Côte d'Ivoire climbed ten places, now standing in 32nd., with 674 points, between Korea Republic and Paraguay, whereas Tunisia appeared five places higher, now in joint 23rd. place with Croatia, each with 701 points, a single point behind Iran. Other than this, Ghana and Australia switched order, though both emerging in joint 48th, place, with 609 points each. Finally, it is worth noting that Angola managed a laudable recovery, having climbed three places, to appear in 60th., with 582 points–that is, Angola began to threaten Togo's placement, as Togo dropped three places, to find itself a mere point ahead of Angola, that is, in 59th. place.

— By March, 2006 (see 2006 Rank Update 3), Ghana had moved behind Trinidad and Tobago, whereas Australia had moved ahead of Serbia and Montenegro. Additionally Iran, followed by Croatia, both these Squads had then emerged ahead of Germany, the Cup's 2006 host Nation. It is worth remarking that, albeit retaining their places in second and third, respectively, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands ranked a single point apart, in March (Brazil remaining way ahead, in a lead maintained at over 40 points). Other than the above-mentioned USA's climb and France's drop, these were the conspicuous alterations carried in the 2006 Rank Update 3.

— FIFA's April ranking (see 2006 Rank Update 4) brought exciting news for Angola: they managed to leave the rear of the list, that is, among the 32 Squads taking part in Germany-2006! So, at less than two months for the World Cup to begin, it was Togo, then, that took the bottom ranking spot, among the 32 World Cup contesting Squads. The United States, in turn, continued their steady climb, figuring now in fourth place, only surpassed by the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Brazil! Portugal also made worth noting progress, having overtaken none other than Argentina and England. Tunisia (behind Poland, on the above table) had likewise been on an ascending path, now appearing behind Germany, and ahead of Iran. And, to a lesser extent, so had the Côte d'Ivoire (behind Ukraine, above), holding their place behind Korea Republic and ahead of Paraguay. Australia, in turn, moved ahead of both Serbia and Montenegro, and Ghana, whereas Trinidad and Tobago appeared now likewise ahead of Ghana (behind whom were only Angola and Togo). Argentina, in contrast, dropped from fourth in November 2005 (see above) to a disappointing eigth, alongside Portugal, by April 2006 (see 2006 Rank Update 4).

— The last of FIFA's rankings before the 2006 World Cup kick-off was the one issued in mid May (see 2006 Rank Update 5). Again, there were no major changes, though Argentina, France, the United States, and Ukraine fell slightly lower than their previous places, whereas Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Angola. Australia, and Serbia and Montenegro made small gains. Togo kept the rear of the listing, among the squads playing for the 2006 World Title, in Germany.

— The next ranking update is to be issued by FIFA shortly after the World Cup final match.

– Squad Pages + Group Pages – Players' Sources

Stadia+Matches Nations

#	Group	Group	Group	Group	#

1	GER: Germany	ENG: England	ARG: Argentina	MEX: Mexico	1
2	CRC: Costa Rica	PAR: Paraguay	CIV: Côte d'Ivoire	IRN: Iran	2
3	POL: Poland	TRI: Trinidad and Tobago	SCG: Serbia and Montenegro	ANG: Angola	3
4	ECU: Ecuador	SWE: Sweden	NED: Netherlands	POR: Portugal	4

#	Group	Group	Group	Group	#

1	ITA: Italy	BRA: Brazil	FRA: France	ESP: Spain	1
2	GHA: Ghana	CRO: Croatia	SUI: Switzerland	UKR: Ukraine	2
3	USA: United States	AUS: Australia	KOR: Korea Republic	TUN: Tunisia	3
4	CZE: Czech Republic	JPN: Japan	TOG: Togo	KSA: Saudi Arabia	4

Abbreviations, above: used by FIFA, as well as in this eBook.
Numbers 1-4, above, correspond to the numbering used for the Groups drawing,
in Leipzig (2005), number one being the seed.squad, in each Group.

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