Power Ranking All 209 World Football National Teams

The world of international football has undergone quite a few changes over the past few weeks.

Scores of World Cup qualifiers were played, resulting in many teams falling out of contention for the world's biggest tournament.

Meanwhile, continental champions have begun the Confederations Cup in Brazil, providing an appetizer for next summer's festivities.

With all of these changes, it seems logical to provide an update on the just how well these national teams are performing.

As has been the case with each of the past rankings produced here, these rankings are based on the mathematics of a formula created by this writer.

Again, these rankings are based on more than just form.

In an attempt to quantify the abilities of each national team, every team has been assessed on every match over the past four years based on four factors:

• The result of that particular match
• The importance of that match
• The strength of its opposition in that match
• Just how recently the match was contested

Tallying together those scores and weighting in a few other factors, each team is assigned a score out of 1000 and ranked accordingly.

Now, since the last rankings, a few big changes have occurred in these rankings that are worth mentioning.

The biggest change is how the formula has changed in Africa.

While the numbers had previously worked, the inclusion of an Africa Cup of Nations on an off-year, which has created a situation where there has been three such tournaments over the past four years, threw the numbers into disarray.

Hence, the last rankings were unfair on many African nations.

A few key tweaks have produced a few good results with that continent, though, which many people should be happy to see.

The other big change is the change of the evaluation of Brazil's score.

While it seems incredibly unfair for the Brazilians to be penalized for hosting next year's World Cup (as has been the case in the FIFA rankings), these rankings had been unintentionally rewarding them for not needing to go through qualification.

A new factor for hosts seems like a fair component that has fixed this.

So with that in mind, enjoy the newest Wagner World Rankings.

209-181

	Nation		Points out of 1000
209	Turks and Caicos		0.4
208	Bhutan		1.7
207	South Sudan		6.5
206	San Marino		7.3
205	Djibouti		8.2
204	Montserrat		8.5
203	Sao Tome e Principe		10.2
202	Anguilla		13.8
201	Somalia		15.8
200	Eritrea		16.2
199	Mauritania		17.4
198	British Virgin Islands		19.3
197	Seychelles		23.1
196	Brunei Darussalam		24.3
195	Mauritius		26.2
194	Macau		27.1
193	Cook Islands		27.9
192	Comoros		30.7
191	Cayman Islands		34.9
190	Madagascar		36.0
189	Tonga		38.7
188	Dominica		39.8
187	American Samoa		40.7
186	Timor-Leste		40.7
185	Guinea-Bissau		41.1
184	Swaziland		41.2
183	Papua New Guinea		44.4
182	Mongolia		45.2
181	Chad		45.7

Analysis

This bottom set of teams is filled with nations who either struggle at the lowest levels of qualification or don't even enter qualification.

One team in this group that could quickly rise is South Sudan, which was just recently recognized as a country and thus hasn't played many matches.

180-151

	Nation		Points out of 1000
180	Barbados		49.4
179	Guam		52.3
178	Samoa		52.7
177	Aruba		52.8
176	Saint Lucia		53.5
175	U.S. Virgin Islands		56.0
174	Bahamas		56.8
173	Gambia		56.9
172	Cambodia		62.8
171	Kyrgyzstan		63.2
170	Lesotho		63.9
169	Central African Rep.		65.1
168	Sri Lanka		69.2
167	Bermuda		72.5
166	Curacao		77.2
165	Vanuatu		77.6
164	Burundi		79.0
163	Fiji		79.0
162	Pakistan		79.1
161	Nicaragua		83.7
160	Suriname		85.5
159	Laos		85.5
158	Afghanistan		85.6
157	Liberia		89.0
156	Sierra Leone		89.9
155	Grenada		93.1
154	Saint Kitts and Nevis		95.6
153	Benin		95.6
152	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines		96.0
151	Chinese Taipei		96.1

Analysis

This next group of 30 nations has more teams that struggle in qualifying stages, but some of these teams actually achieve some levels of success.

Among these teams, the most interesting is the Central African Republic, whose victories over Egypt eliminated them from qualification for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

However, CAR has been unable to reproduce that form and are already eliminated from contention for next summer's World Cup.

150-121

	Nation		Points out of 1000
150	Cuba		97.8
149	Puerto Rico		101.1
148	Namibia		102.3
147	Nepal		109.8
146	Zimbabwe		110.0
145	Turkmenistan		110.2
144	Equatorial Guinea		111.1
143	Hong Kong		111.2
142	Rwanda		111.3
141	Bangladesh		114.3
140	Myanmar		114.5
139	Maldives		114.5
138	Yemen		115.5
137	Niger		116.4
136	Belize		117.0
135	Dominican Republic		121.0
134	Mozambique		125.1
133	Andorra		127.2
132	Haiti		130.7
131	Congo		131.8
130	Solomon Islands		133.9
129	Guyana		136.1
128	Tajikistan		137.3
127	India		138.8
126	Kenya		140.1
125	Faroe Islands		140.9
124	Guinea		145.5
123	Indonesia		148.1
122	Palestine		148.5
121	Botswana		150.9

Analysis

At 131, Congo is a very interesting team that could be getting ready for a massive move up the rankings.

The Congolese are poised to win their 2014 World Cup qualifying group over Burkina Faso and Gabon, sending them to the playoffs.

Their group victory would be a bit strange, as it is mostly due to clerical errors by their two closest rivals that caused them to have draws overturned to 3-0 losses.

However, Congo is very close to a shocking World Cup berth.

Meanwhile, the Solomon Islands come in at 130 after it struggled as hosts at the 2012 Oceania Football Confederation Nations Cup.

120-91

	Nation		Points out of 1000
120	Antigua and Barbuda		151.8
119	Trinidad and Tobago		152.0
118	Vietnam		153.1
117	Cape Verde Islands		155.1
116	Malaysia		156.1
115	Sudan		156.3
114	DR Congo		168.8
113	Togo		170.1
112	Singapore		172.8
111	Philippines		179.0
110	Tanzania		181.0
109	Angola		186.9
108	Syria		189.3
107	Tahiti		197.0
106	Thailand		199.9
105	Lebanon		200.7
104	Malawi		204.2
103	El Salvador		205.7
102	Liechtenstein		208.1
101	Senegal		208.5
100	Libya		209.9
99	Luxembourg		216.4
98	Guatemala		217.8
97	Gabon		218.3
96	Malta		219.3
95	Cameroon		223.8
94	Uganda		225.3
93	Canada		228.9
92	Kazakhstan		229.5
91	Ethiopia		229.8

Analysis

Many teams in this group are at pivotal points and could be heading up or down these rankings soon.

Tahiti rode its OFC Nations Cup championship to 107, but its dismal performances at the Confederations Cup could see them drop quickly.

Meanwhile, Senegal, Libya and Cameroon could quickly rise if they can clinch their respective groups.

The most interesting team, though, is Ethiopia at 91.

The Ethiopians clinched their group in World Cup qualifying, defeating South Africa.

However, FIFA is probing one of the nation's matches to see if they fielded an ineligible player, which would mean that the group is back up for grabs.

90-61

	Nation		Points out of 1000
90	South Africa		230.5
89	Korea DPR		238.9
88	Saudi Arabia		239.9
87	UAE		240.4
86	Cyprus		242.4
85	Bahrain		244.5
84	Scotland		253.8
83	China		256.3
82	Kuwait		256.3
81	Egypt		264.5
80	Oman		264.5
79	Qatar		265.0
78	Northern Ireland		268.8
77	Mali		277.2
76	New Caledonia		277.6
75	Moldova		278.4
74	Lithuania		279.2
73	Algeria		283.4
72	Latvia		290.6
71	Azerbaijan		292.9
70	Iraq		293.9
69	Morocco		297.1
68	Iceland		297.5
67	Jamaica		298.4
66	Wales		299.1
65	Macedonia		303.3
64	Tunisia		305.4
63	Georgia		311.9
62	Bolivia		314.1
61	Estonia		324.1

Analysis

Many sides sit poised to move up these rankings in this group.

Iceland and Wales have performed very well in World Cup qualifying, so the nations are hoping that they will be able to ride that to success in the future.

Meanwhile, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria have had fine group campaigns, leaving them very close to booking a spot in next summer's World Cup.

On the other side, Mali, Iraq and Jamaica have disappointed in their World Cup runs and are on the way down.

60-31

	Nation		Points out of 1000
60	Albania		336.6
59	Belarus		340.9
58	Armenia		341.7
57	Honduras		343.4
56	Bulgaria		343.5
55	Zambia		345.8
54	New Zealand		347.7
53	Costa Rica		348.4
52	Panama		359.7
51	Finland		361.9
50	Slovakia		374.0
49	Montenegro		375.9
48	Austria		375.9
47	Israel		376.1
46	Burkina Faso		377.9
45	Serbia		382.0
44	Turkey		382.8
43	Jordan		384.4
42	Slovenia		385.0
41	Poland		386.4
40	Hungary		388.7
39	Venezuela		391.3
38	Norway		396.9
37	Romania		398.7
36	Ukraine		400.4
35	Peru		400.7
34	Paraguay		406.8
33	Uzbekistan		407.6
32	USA		426.4
31	Denmark		430.3

Analysis

Much of this group is comprised of European sides hoping for a playoff spot, with Albania, Armenia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Norway, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine and Denmark all fitting that bill.

Uzbekistan (33) and Jordan (43) will do battle in Asia's World Cup qualifying playoff, with the winner hoping to win the intercontinental playoff for a spot in Brazil.

South American teams like Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela are near the bottom of the World Cup qualifying table.

Peru and Venezuela still have hope of turning their campaigns around, but Paraguay sits in 34th due to its strong performances in years past.

Near the top of the group is the USA, which has been been performing quite well in CONCACAF's qualifying.

The Americans will surely find themselves going to Brazil next year but will hope to get some more competitive friendly fixtures in before that.

30-21

	Nation		Points out of 1000
30	Nigeria		434.9
29	Ecuador		436.2
28	Iran		437.5
27	Czech Rep		440.0
26	Chile		442.5
25	Switzerland		442.5
24	Japan		443.7
23	Belgium		443.8
22	Rep. Ireland		451.1
21	Bosnia and Herzegovina		451.8

Analysis

Reigning African champions Nigeria sit in 30th, just third among its continent due to its  inability to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

Though Ecuador has been impressive in CONMEBOL's World Cup qualifying thus far, it still has some work left to do. In fact, the Ecuadorians must prove themselves away from home if they hope to solidify their place in Brazil.

Iran and Japan both booked places in Brazil, while Switzerland, Belgium and Bosnia and Herzegovina look well on their way to doing the same.

20-11

	Nation		Points out of 1000
20	Greece		453.0
19	Australia		454.1
18	Ghana		455.8
17	South Korea		455.9
16	Ivory Coast		458.2
15	France		458.7
14	Mexico		462.5
13	Colombia		464.5
12	Sweden		477.4
11	Russia		483.3

Analysis

Colombia continues its rise through these rankings, moving up to 13th as its hot form continues.

Russia's loss to Portugal was a setback and moved them out of the top 10, but it should still comfortably find its way to next summer's tournament.

Mexico is in a bit of a downward spiral, getting quickly eliminated from the Confederations Cup and making work out of its qualification to the World Cup through the hex.

The two most consistent African nations, Ghana and Ivory Coast, sit at 18 and 16, respectively.

Australia and South Korea have already wrapped up berths in next summer's tournament in Brazil and are in the top 20 because of that.

10. Croatia

Points out of 1000: 486.3

Analysis

Croatia has suffered a few setbacks over the past month, taking away its solid grasp on ninth and pushing them to the cusp of the top 10.

The Croats lost to Scotland in a World Cup qualifier—allowing Belgium to take a dominant lead in the group—then followed it up with a loss to Portugal in a friendly.

Croatia must right the ship soon if it hopes to win its group and avoid a playoff process that has troubled them in the past.

9. Uruguay

Points out of 1000: 496.9

Analysis

Uruguay might finally be righting the ship.

The reigning World Cup semifinalists and Copa America champions picked up a crucial victory at Venezuela in World Cup qualifying, pushing them into a playoff spot and within sight of the automatic qualifying places.

The Uruguayans look set to make it through their Confederations Cup group after defeating Nigeria, so they will hope that a strong showing will give them the momentum to up their form through the next few crucial months of qualifying.

8. England

Points out of 1000: 513.2

Analysis

England may not have played a qualifying match this month, but it was still able to gain ground on its rivals.

Ukraine's 4-0 victory at Montenegro means that England remains in second place and two points behind the Montenegrins—but now with a match in hand.

Further, Poland's 1-1 draw at Moldova put a big damper on its hopes.

Adding in a draw with Brazil in a friendly at the Maracana, and one can see that England had a pretty decent month.

7. Brazil

Points out of 1000: 522.3

Analysis

The new factors on Brazil may make it seem like Brazil is moving down these rankings, but this is not the case.

Other than a draw with England, the Brazilians have played well, destroying France in a friendly and dominating at the Confederations Cup thus far.

If they continue to push their way through the Confed Cup, Brazil could easily move up a spot before next month.

6. Portugal

Points out of 1000: 529.8

Analysis

By the evidence of this month, Portugal may finally be coming around.

In matches with Russia and Croatia, the Portuguese kept two clean sheets and won both.

It looks like Portugal is gearing up for another playoff run into a major tournament.

Given that their only losses at major tournaments over the past four years have come to Spain, the Portuguese should be a team to fear.

5. Argentina

Points out of 1000: 530.1

Analysis

Argentina's domination of the South American World Cup qualifying group is nearly complete, as it is just one win shy of booking its place in next year's tournament.

Further, with Lionel Messi scoring a hat trick against Guatemala, the outlook is bright for the Argentinians.

4. Italy

Points out of 1000: 554.1

Analysis

The Euro 2012 finalists have had a strange month.

A draw with the Czech Republic in World Cup qualifying was quickly followed by a strange draw in a friendly with Haiti, results that made one wonder if there might be something wrong.

However, the Azzurri have done well since then, scoring victories in each of their first two Confederations Cup group matches and advancing to the semifinals.

It's hard to know what to expect from this Italian team.

3. Netherlands

Points out of 1000: 561.0

Analysis

The 2010 World Cup runner-up Netherlands has continued its dominance in qualification campaigns, winning every group match thus far.

The Dutch haven't been defeated in just about a year and will be hoping to keep that streak alive heading into next year's tournament in Brazil.

After all, they had a two-year unbeaten run heading into the 2010 World Cup that served them quite well.

2. Germany

Points out of 1000: 594.5

Analysis

With the Bundesliga's clubs dominating European football this season, the Germans will hope that the success will translate to their national team.

Germany's 4-3 loss to the USA certainly wasn't good, but the result should be mitigated by the fact that it was playing very few (if any) of its first-choice starters.

Still, it is a little worrying that these backups put in such a performance, as any injury could thus cause a problem.

1. Spain

Points out of 1000: 662.4

Analysis

Spain is far and away the top national team in the world and will stay atop this perch for quite some time.

The reigning World Cup and European champions just keep putting in great performances and adding to their incredible resume.

There's not much more for them to do except win this month's Confederations Cup.

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