Fri 14 Jul 06
Pulling Rank in FIFA
The new ranking system has debuted and the results are indeed interesting:
- As your humble scribe foretold, the USA has dropped to 16th from fifth place, a still respectable but definitely more accurate evaluation
- Among the old school, Italy, Argentina, France, England and Germany have all risen
- Africa gets well-deserved improved representation in the top twenty, with Côte d’Ivoire joining Nigeria and Cameroon
- The three most improved standings: Equatorial Guinea (+59), Seychelles (+35) and Chad (+31)
- The three biggest losers in the reshuffle? Saudia Arabia (-47), Luxembourg (-42) and Iraq (-36)
And yes, Canada has risen 29 spots to 54th, in between Guatemala and Angola.
Paul Canniff
