FIFA World Rankings 2015: End-of-Year International Standings Released

Spain have moved into the top three of FIFA’s official world rankings, with Belgium maintaining their spot at the summit as we head into 2016.

The latest standings were announced by the organisation on Thursday after a gripping round of international fixtures last month. 

Teams in Europe continued their preparations for next summer’s European Championship with play-off and friendly fixtures, while in South America, the qualification process for the 2018 World Cup produced some thrilling action.

Here’s a look at the new standings and a recap of the main movers in December’s rankings.

Rank	Team	Total Points	+/-
1	Belgium	1494	-
2	Argentina	1455	+1
3	Spain	1370	+3
4	Germany	1347	-2
5	Chile	1273	-
6	Brazil	1251	+2
7	Portugal	1219	-3
8	Colombia	1211	-1
9	England	1106	-
10	Austria	1091	-

For the full standings, click here.

The formula underpinning FIFA's rankings is far from straightforward. The result, importance of the match, strength of opposition and confederation are given coefficients, then multiplied together to provide an overall score. 

Then, another coefficient is applied depending on the other team’s confederation (CONMEBOL 1.00; UEFA 0.99; AFC, CAF, OFC and CONCACAF 0.85), per the governing body's official website. Over time, the value of results decreases.

Spain Move Up, Belgium Remain on Top

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After their shambles of a 2014 World Cup, in which then-reigning champions Spain surrendered their crown in embarrassing style, manager Vicente Del Bosque was always going to have to oversee a transitional phase. 

The start of the qualification round for the European Championship didn’t go well, with a loss in Slovakia revealing the frailties which were so ruthlessly exposed at the World Cup. But steady progress has been made since, new players were handed chances and Del Bosque eventually oversaw a straightforward qualification for Euro 2016.

BRUNO FAHY/Getty Images

A 2-0 friendly win over England last time out, when La Roja were in first gear for much of the match, was evident of their quality. As we can see here courtesy of Squawka Football, Spain are in excellent form at the moment:

Their jump three places up is the biggest movement inside the top 10, but there are a few other intriguing changes.

Argentina are up into second, subsequently pushing Germany down into fourth position. It’s not been the easiest time of things for the Albiceleste, though, as they’ve struggled in their qualification for the World Cup, winning just one of their four games so far. Admittedly, that was an impressive 1-0 triumph in Colombia.

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Their great rivals Brazil are up two spots into sixth, one behind South American champions Chile.

Portugal, despite an easy qualification for Euro 2016, have dropped into seventh. Colombia, England and Austria make up the respective remaining spots in the top 10.

As noted by Austrian football expert Tim Armitage, for the nation to finish the year with qualification for next summer’s showpiece secured and a spot in the top 10 is a staggering feat:

Further down the standings, the biggest mover upward is Libya, who jumped an impressive 32 places into 81st spot. Liberia, by contrast, have endured the biggest drop of any team, sagging back into 107th from 86th.

One team who certainly warrant a mention are Ecuador. Usually renowned for being very strong at home, where they play at altitude, but not so handy on the road, they are occasional qualifiers for major tournaments.

However, they’ve won all four of their qualifying matches so far in South America, including a 2-0 win over Argentina in Buenos Aires.

JUAN MABROMATA/Getty Images

As OptaJavier noted after their recent 3-1 win over Venezuela, Gustavo Quinteros’ side play an offensive style of football which seems to be serving them well, jumping eight places into 13th:

For Belgium, to end 2015 as top of the standings is a huge boost. They have a core of top quality players, a manager not afraid to make big decisions and, most crucially for this group, a festering team spirit too.

They’ll be hoping the momentum built from taking top spot into 2016 will serve them well as they seek to challenge at the showpiece tournament in France next summer.

The rankings will take on a little more significance in the build-up to the major tournament. With no qualification games to be played, the standings will be a barometer of progress for a lot of teams, and while they are much-maligned, a betterment in position can be used by coaches as a way of adding confidence to their respective squads.