[The Naitch]

We're now above Wales in the rankings again. We're 49th, they're 50th.

[Marshmallo]

Belgium are 41st. Bizarre, as listening to most on here I thought they were the Brazil team of 1970.

[StewartyMac]

Marshmallo, on 23 November 2011 - 14:02, said:

Belgium are 41st. Bizarre, as listening to most on here I thought they were the Brazil team of 1970.

European champions in 2016, mark my words.

[Marshmallo]

StewartyMac, on 26 November 2011 - 20:13, said:

European champions in 2016, mark my words.

Quote this in 2016 if you wish - there is absolutely zero chance of Belgium winning the European Championship in 2016.

[nessies long lost ghost]

The Naitch, on 23 November 2011 - 10:38, said:

We're now above Wales in the rankings again. We're 49th, they're 50th.

 party.gif (141.69K)
Number of downloads: 1

[HibeeJibee]

Marshmallo, on 26 November 2011 - 20:23, said:

Quote this in 2016 if you wish - there is absolutely zero chance of Belgium winning the European Championship in 2016.

Although folk would've spoken similarly of Greece in 1999...

[cheesy]

I wouldn't read too much into it. Wales have somehow skyrocketed up the rankings are winning a couple of irrelevant game.



The FIFA rankings may be the biggest flaw in existence. How can an organisation, even as bad as FIFA themselves are, create a system as poor and ineffective as this?

[Enigma]

HibeeJibee, on 26 November 2011 - 21:17, said:

Although folk would've spoken similarly of Greece in 1999...

The one greek guy I think I have ever spoken to is convinced their 2004 win was a betting scandal thing so who knows.

[gordon the gopher]

cheesy, on 26 November 2011 - 22:29, said:

I wouldn't read too much into it. Wales have somehow skyrocketed up the rankings are winning a couple of irrelevant game.



The FIFA rankings may be the biggest flaw in existence. How can an organisation, even as bad as FIFA themselves are, create a system as poor and ineffective as this?

How would you calculate it?

[StewartyMac]

Marshmallo, on 26 November 2011 - 20:23, said:

Quote this in 2016 if you wish - there is absolutely zero chance of Belgium winning the European Championship in 2016.

Just like Denmark in 1992 and Greece in 2004 you mean?

[WeeHectorPar]

Enigma, on 27 November 2011 - 01:59, said:

The one greek guy I think I have ever spoken to is convinced their 2004 win was a betting scandal thing so who knows.

I live in France and every one of my football friends reckons that France bought the World Cup in 98.

[WeeHectorPar]

gordon the gopher, on 27 November 2011 - 09:07, said:

How would you calculate it?

Firstly friendlies should not be counted. Brazil stayed no 1 even after France beat them in 98 because they played masses of friendly matches against teams from Central America and the Caribbean. Since the winners of the major championships are no longer automatically qualified for the next they have to play the qualifs. Host nations should have their ranking points fixed for the duration of the qualifying matches.

[StewartyMac]

WeeHectorPar, on 27 November 2011 - 14:27, said:

I live in France and every one of my football friends reckons that France bought the World Cup in 98.

Nonsense, France had a fantastic side from around 1997-2002. Home advantage at the World's was a factor, but they were a great, great side.

[Reference]

gordon the gopher, on 27 November 2011 - 09:07, said:

How would you calculate it?

The Elo Rating is a much superior indicator on a team's ability.....

http://en.wikipedia....all_Elo_Ratings

[nessies long lost ghost]

WeeHectorPar, on 27 November 2011 - 14:27, said:

I live in France and every one of my football friends reckons that France bought the World Cup in 98.

On a similar note, my uncle thinks South Africa bought the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

[forameus]

WeeHectorPar, on 27 November 2011 - 14:38, said:

Firstly friendlies should not be counted. Brazil stayed no 1 even after France beat them in 98 because they played masses of friendly matches against teams from Central America and the Caribbean. Since the winners of the major championships are no longer automatically qualified for the next they have to play the qualifs. Host nations should have their ranking points fixed for the duration of the qualifying matches.

Would agree in the most part, but I think friendlies could be counted if they're treated right. If I designed the system, I'd have it this way...

You earn points based on a number of factors. Friendlies would still earn points, but would get you half the points a competitive game would. So beating shitey teams in a friendly only goes so far. The amount of points you earn per game depends on whether it is competitive, as already said, and the relative rankings of the two teams involved. For example, say Scotland played Spain tomorrow, a Spain win would obviously be expected. If Spain were to win, they would gain a small number of points. However, if it was a draw, Spain would lose points, as they got a worse result than was expected. Scotland would obviously gain points for a draw as it would be a better result. More points are awarded for scoring more goals. Similarly a win for Scotland would lose Spain more points, and gain Scotland a shitload. Something like.

Points = ExpectedResult + (GoalsScored - GoalsAgainst) + DifferenceInRanking (Difference only counted when the result isn't as expected)

BUT obviously this way of calculating rankings depends on teams being ranked exactly where they deserve to be, which they aren't now. This would probably normalise over a period of time.

[HibeeJibee]

You do realise that what you propose is prettymuch exactly how the system currently works...?

Competitive qualifiers are worth 2.5x what friendlies are (continental finals are worth 3x; the World Cup finals 3.5x), and the calculation does takes into account ranking position of the opponent relative to the team in question, and the confederation which they're from (Europe and South America rated highest, Oceania lowest).

The current system doesn't take into account the winning margin, granted, but I can see reasons for that - and it'd not change things markedly.

[Dunning1874]

The best option would be to return to basing seeding for qualifiers on the two previous qualifying campaigns, while treating the rankings as the irrelevance they should be. Obviously that's not perfect when a team can be a lot better or worse than they were four years ago, but it's not as shit as the rankings.

[Shannon]

In my opinion the draw should be made in November / December for the World Cup Qualification for UEFA teams after the Euro 2012 qualification has been completed and rankings settled. Would have meants Wales were not in bottom pot and would have got Faroes or Liechtenstein

This post has been edited by Shannon: 12 December 2011 - 22:57