U.S. moves up to highest FIFA ranking ever

Associated Press

 

ZURICH, Switzerland -- The U.S. national team improved to fifth in FIFA's monthly rankings -- the highest it's ever been placed by world soccer's governing body.

 

 

The Americans, who broke out of a three-way tie for sixth with Spain and Mexico despite dropping a point to 764 in Wednesday's latest poll, also moved ahead of France, which dropped to eighth.

 

 

The United States reached the quarterfinals at the 2002 World Cup finals and won the 2005 Gold Cup.

 

 

At the other end of the top 20, World Cup host Germany and European champion Greece dropped out.

 

 

Greece, which failed to qualify for this year's World Cup, dropped from 19th place to 21st with 704 points. Germany, which reached the final at the last World Cup and will host the next edition, had been tied with the Greeks but dropped to 22nd with 700 points.

 

 

Brazil remained at the top of the list with 835 points, two less than it had in February's rankings. The Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Argentina continue to occupy the next three spots.

 

 

The Czechs remain a distant second with 789 points, but that's only one more than the Netherlands. The Argentines also lead the United States by only one point.

 

 

Spain remained in sixth place, while Mexico dropped to seventh and France to eighth. England stayed ninth and Portugal remained in 10th.

 

 

Iran and Croatia were the teams that benefited from the drop at the bottom of the top 20, sharing 19th in place of Greece and Germany.

 

 

Also, Palestine moved up 17 places to 121st, its best ever ranking.

 

The continued progress of our program over the last 10 years or so has been impressive. It's just a matter of time...

and yet we get utterly raped in the world cup draw.

 

 

lovely.

We should have been seeded.

 

But whatever, we're going to win our pool.

We should have been seeded.

 

But whatever, we're going to win our pool.

 

 

FIFA hates us. So I'm not shocked.

 

 

and we better win our pool or we are screwed.

Wow. Palestine is an "official club". FIFA is oh so funny.

Wow. Palestine is an "official club". FIFA is oh so funny.

 

 

why wouldnt they be?

Wow. Palestine is an "official club". FIFA is oh so funny.

 

 

why wouldnt they be?

I don't see a Chechyna club, do you?

 

 

 

That is why.

did you just pull that nation out of a hat?

 

 

do they even have a national club? cause you know if they dont have a national club, then it would be sorta hard to be ranked....

Rank Team +/-Rank:Feb 06 Pts:Mar 06 +/-Pts:Feb 06

1 Brazil 0 835 -2

2 Czech Republic 0 789 -4

3 Netherlands 0 788 -3

4 Argentina 0 765 -4

5 USA 1 764 -1

6 Spain 0 763 -2

7 Mexico -1 762 -3

8 France -3 760 -6

9 England 0 756 -2

10 Portugal 0 755 -1

11 Turkey 0 743 -3

12 Nigeria 0 738 0

12 Italy 0 738 0

14 Denmark 0 736 1

15 Cameroon 1 726 -1

16 Sweden -1 725 -4

17 Egypt 0 714 0

18 Japan 0 712 0

19 Iran 3 705 3

19 Croatia 4 705 4

21 Greece -2 704 -2

22 Germany -3 700 -6

23 Uruguay -2 699 -4

24 Tunisia -1 698 -3

25 Costa Rica 0 694 -6

26 Poland 0 691 -6

26 Romania 4 691 6

28 Senegal 1 689 3

29 Republic of Ireland -2 687 -2

30 Colombia -3 686 -3

31 Korea Republic 0 683 4

32 C?te d'Ivoire 0 671 -3

33 Paraguay 0 666 -3

34 Saudi Arabia 1 660 -1

35 Russia -1 657 -7

35 Switzerland 2 657 4

37 Morocco -1 653 -1

38 Ecuador 0 644 -6

39 Norway 0 643 -4

39 Bulgaria 1 643 5

41 Slovakia 4 627 7

42 Ukraine -1 624 -3

43 Honduras -1 623 -3

44 Australia 4 621 12

45 Jamaica -2 620 -4

46 Serbia and Montenegro 1 616 5

47 Israel -3 615 -7

48 Finland -2 610 -2

49 Trinidad and Tobago 2 607 0

50 Ghana -2 605 -4

50 Belgium 4 605 6

52 South Africa -2 604 -4

53 Zimbabwe -1 602 1

54 Bahrain -2 599 -2

55 Iraq 0 596 0

56 Guinea 0 594 0

57 Zambia 0 591 0

58 Togo 1 580 -3

58 Guatemala 0 580 -4

60 Angola 0 577 -5

61 Uzbekistan 0 573 2

62 Scotland -1 567 -4

63 Belarus 0 565 -3

64 Mali 0 564 -3

64 Bosnia-Herzegovina 1 564 3

66 Peru 1 557 -1

67 Chile -1 556 -4

68 Latvia -1 555 -3

69 Slovenia 1 554 3

70 Venezuela -1 551 -2

71 China PR 4 549 3

72 Kuwait 3 548 2

72 Hungary 0 548 -2

74 Congo DR -1 547 -1

75 Austria -5 545 -6

76 Wales -2 544 -3

77 Qatar 13 543 55

78 Cuba -1 541 -3

79 Estonia -2 539 -5

80 United Arab Emirates 4 537 19

81 Panama -2 532 -4

81 Oman 8 532 41

83 Jordan 3 525 19

84 Libya -4 519 -3

85 Algeria -4 517 -3

85 Canada 0 517 7

87 Korea DPR -5 515 -4

88 Albania -6 514 -5

89 Syria 6 506 25

90 Burkina Faso -3 503 -1

91 FYR Macedonia -3 497 -3

92 Rwanda -1 484 -2

92 Singapore 1 484 2

94 Kenya -3 483 -3

95 Sudan -2 480 -2

96 Lithuania 4 478 13

97 Iceland -1 477 -3

98 Uganda -1 472 -2

98 Cyprus 0 472 2

98 Northern Ireland 4 472 9

101 Bolivia -3 469 -1

102 Botswana -2 462 -3

103 Haiti -1 460 -3

104 Georgia 1 459 2

105 Gabon -1 455 -3

106 Malawi 0 446 -3

107 Moldova 0 437 -3

108 Thailand 1 435 13

109 Armenia -1 427 -3

110 Indonesia 0 413 -3

111 Congo 0 407 -3

112 Ethiopia 0 397 -1

113 Benin 0 394 -1

114 Azerbaijan 0 392 0

115 New Zealand 7 383 17

115 Hong Kong 2 383 1

117 Barbados -2 382 -3

118 Turkmenistan -2 381 -3

118 India 0 381 1

120 Lebanon 1 380 11

121 Palestine 17 377 64

122 Malta -3 368 -6

122 Cape Verde Islands -2 368 -2

124 Liechtenstein 0 364 -1

124 Vietnam -2 364 -2

126 Malaysia -1 354 -2

127 El Salvador -1 353 -2

127 Andorra -1 353 -2

129 St. Lucia -1 340 -3

130 Yemen 9 336 27

131 St. Kitts and Nevis -2 334 -2

132 Mozambique -2 333 -2

133 St. Vincent and the Grenadines -2 332 -2

134 Kazakhstan 3 323 9

135 Faroe Islands -3 321 -2

136 Maldives -3 320 -2

137 Swaziland -3 318 -3

138 Fiji -3 314 -2

139 Liberia -4 313 -3

140 Solomon Islands 0 300 -2

141 Tajikistan 0 297 -1

142 Tahiti -1 296 -2

143 Bangladesh 0 294 -1

144 Mauritius 0 280 -2

145 Sri Lanka 0 278 -2

146 Lesotho 0 264 -2

146 Vanuatu 1 264 -1

148 Burundi 0 262 -2

148 Myanmar 0 262 -2

150 Madagascar 0 261 -2

151 Luxembourg 0 253 -2

152 Grenada 0 247 -1

153 Nicaragua 0 242 -1

153 Surinam 0 242 -1

155 Antigua and Barbuda 0 239 -2

155 Pakistan 2 239 3

157 Chinese Taipei 0 236 0

158 San Marino -2 235 -2

159 Kyrgyzstan 0 233 -2

160 Chad 0 228 0

161 Bermuda 0 216 -2

161 Namibia 0 216 -2

163 Guyana 4 211 27

163 Sierra Leone 0 211 -1

165 Equatorial Guinea 8 207 39

166 Gambia -2 203 -2

167 Tanzania -2 195 0

168 Papua New Guinea -2 189 -1

169 Netherlands Antilles -1 182 -1

170 Eritrea -1 180 -1

171 Laos -1 178 -2

172 British Virgin Islands -1 174 -1

173 Dominica -1 169 -1

174 Dominican Republic 0 155 -1

175 Nepal 0 151 -1

176 Seychelles 0 150 -1

177 Niger 0 142 -1

178 Mauritania 0 137 -1

179 Mongolia 0 136 0

180 Belize 0 133 -1

181 Central African Republic 2 132 5

182 Cayman Islands -1 131 -1

183 Samoa -1 130 -1

184 Somalia 0 111 0

185 Tonga 0 108 -1

185 Guinea-Bissau 1 108 0

187 New Caledonia 0 103 -1

188 Cambodia 0 94 -1

189 Afghanistan 0 84 0

190 Bhutan 0 83 0

191 Philippines 0 76 -1

192 Macau 0 74 0

193 Bahamas 0 67 0

194 Cook Islands 0 64 -1

195 Puerto Rico 0 62 0

196 US Virgin Islands 0 57 0

197 S?o Tom? e Pr?ncipe 0 55 0

198 Anguilla 0 52 0

199 Brunei Darussalam 0 48 0

200 Djibouti 0 46 0

200 Aruba 0 46 0

202 Montserrat 0 30 0

203 Turks and Caicos Islands 0 22 0

204 Guam 0 19 0

205 American Samoa 0 15 0

We should have been seeded.

 

But whatever, we're going to win our pool.

 

 

FIFA hates us. So I'm not shocked.

 

 

and we better win our pool or we are screwed.

Mexico deserved it more. When they did it they were ranked higher and they did good in the Confederations Cup too, but FiFa does seem to have it against the whole Concacaf region except Mexico though, not just the US.

The world cup host, Germany fell 3 more places and its ranked 22nd.

ya well we are better than mexico and can beat them anywhere but mexico city.

 

 

and we won the concacaf gold cup last year.

 

 

i dont really understand how mexico deserved it more when we own them currently.

 

we were ranked in the top 8 and should have been given a seed. period.

 

 

fifa can goto hell and will do whatever they can to prevent the usa from winning the world cup.

ya well we are better than mexico and can beat them anywhere but mexico city.

 

 

and we won the concacaf gold cup last year.

 

 

i dont really understand how mexico deserved it more when we own them currently.

 

we were ranked in the top 8 and should have been given a seed. period.

 

 

fifa can goto hell and will do whatever they can to prevent the usa from winning the world cup.

 

Thats probably true. As far as fifa is concerned it could be a tragedy if USA wins it, because nobody will probably care here. Then again maybe it helps the soccer grow here, but probably not.

I'm of the personal opinion that the main reason this country doesn't care is because we never win it.

I'm of the personal opinion that the main reason this country doesn't care is because we never win it.

 

They should have cared back when the US got to host it back in 94'. Thats the kind of thing that may only get to happen once every 50 years or so. Its truely amazing that the US cares more about NASCAR than soccer, I mean even the middle east plays it.

When is the World Cup? And ya, I can't believe it's been 4 years.

#5 in the seeding, #1 in your hearts.

 

The guy who's "teaching" my soccer class next quarter is supposedly a former US National teamer. I've never heard of heem.

I'm of the personal opinion that the main reason this country doesn't care is because we never win it.

 

They should have cared back when the US got to host it back in 94'. Thats the kind of thing that may only get to happen once every 50 years or so. Its truely amazing that the US cares more about NASCAR than soccer, I mean even the middle east plays it.

thats when the resurgance in the united states began.

 

 

and as far as us winning being bad for no fan interest, i dont think thats the case.....i think there is a bigger reason behind it...

Those Fifa rankings are a joke.Mexico and U.S get the benifit of playing in Concacrap.I want to see Mexico join Conmebol so they can struggle to make the world cup...Spain Sixth??? They barely qualified and struggle to beat some little nation in Europe to do so.Nobody take the rankings seriously...

When is the Cup?

June 9.

 

Our first game is June 12.

Wow. Palestine is an "official club". FIFA is oh so funny.

why wouldnt they be? I don't see a Chechyna club, do you?

 

 

 

That is why.But I see Puerto Rico.

According to the rankings, Iran>Germany.

 

I think that's all that needs to be said about the validity of these rankings.