As promised, FIFA's ranks were updated today. I was probably a bit optimistic with some of my predictions. Here's what actually happened:
Biggest movers upwards:
Liechtenstein - this tiny nation were massively boosted over the last month, jumping 10 places to 148. This is still seven places lower than where they were in August, and comes thanks to their draw with Estonia.
Bosnia and Herzegovina - up 7 places thanks to a win over Slovakia and a draw with Poland. They're now ranked 44 in the world, and 13 places over their August rank.
Up five - Belgium (57), Georgia (73), Israel (50) and Malta (164). Georgia are continuing their rise from the bottom of the table, rather more sedately than Montenegro's. Israel, Malta and Belgium, however, all have lower positions than their August ranks.
Up four - Finland (83), which is still rubbish when you consider they were 32 positions higher in August.
Up three - Austria (46), Cyprus (90) and France (18). France, having beaten England, are starting to get back in order and returning to their usual position. Austria have also done well, rising 14 positions since August. Cyprus... well, their 2010 has been all over the place, with dramatic rises and falls.
Biggest movers downwards:
Lithuania - they've been up slightly, but now have lost out, returning to approximately their August position. In their game over the last month, they were beaten by Hungary.
Estonia - down 8, a disappointing drop for the Estonians who drew with Liechtenstein. But they're still up on their August position.
Azerbaijan - they had some good rises in position since August, but have now started dropping again. They're down 8, but still up overall.
Albania - much like Azerbaijan, it's the first drop after a run of rises. So they're still up on their August ranking.
Down 5 - Latvia (78) and Faroe Islands (136). It's just another drop in the series for unlucky Latvia, who were 49 in August. As for the Faroes, they didn't play in November/December as their friendly was just before the previous calculation.
Down 4 - Ireland (36), Romania (56). Ireland's is no change overall since August, but Romania continue to drop.
Showing posts with label Azerbaijan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Azerbaijan. Show all posts
15/12/2010
20/10/2010
FIFA/Coca-Cola Rankings Adjustment October 2010
Armenia are amazing!
There is only one team in Europe that really stands out as improving, and one team that have really lost places. Here's the summary of what happened:
1. Armenia: +45 places following their two victories. They're up to 60th, and only just behind Scotland. This is their highest ever FIFA ranking!
2. Russia: +15 places thanks to their defeats of Israel and Macedonia. Up to 10th!
3. Montenegro: Montenegro: +14 places to 26th. They did fantastically well in group G, having defeated all their opponents except England. Once England have played against Wales then they should be equal top of the group.
4. Azerbaijan: They defeated Turkey, and so deserve an 11 place improvement to 91st. Turkey, meanwhile, fall 8 places to 29th, as they gained no points over the qualifiers.
5. France and Italy: France finally start to rise in rank again. They've stopped losing, and that's helping change their average points back where they should be. Italy have dropped points after a draw with Northern Ireland, and the abandoned match gives no points.
6. Greece: This team seems attached to twelfth. They have not moved at all since I started keeping track of the ranks, and the last time they changed position was in June when they came up one place from thirteenth.
7. Scotland: They were the UK's second team, but luck for Northern Ireland has lost the Scots position. It's entirely unfair for them to be drawn against Spain, and they played a good game. But playing well doesn't count for any points, so they remain third in the UK (fourth including Ireland).
8. Wales: At least Scotland aren't Wales, who finally start losing position. They're down into the 100s now, having lost 20 places to go 105th.
9. Israel: They've gone down 20 places as well. Israel have strange form, sometimes being better and sometimes worse. Their home league isn't that bad, so it's hard to know what's up internationally.
10. Cyprus: Who knows what is happening with Cyprus? They drew 4-4 with Portugal, but now have such bad form they drop 45 places to 88th! Their performance is even less understandable than Israel's.
11. Central African Republic: Not a European team, which is why I saved them till last. I predicted they'd rise, but not by this much! Sixty places up to 112th makes them the fastest-rising team in the world. Fellow Africans Niger also rose well, with 54 places, to go 100th.
There is only one team in Europe that really stands out as improving, and one team that have really lost places. Here's the summary of what happened:
1. Armenia: +45 places following their two victories. They're up to 60th, and only just behind Scotland. This is their highest ever FIFA ranking!
2. Russia: +15 places thanks to their defeats of Israel and Macedonia. Up to 10th!
3. Montenegro: Montenegro: +14 places to 26th. They did fantastically well in group G, having defeated all their opponents except England. Once England have played against Wales then they should be equal top of the group.
4. Azerbaijan: They defeated Turkey, and so deserve an 11 place improvement to 91st. Turkey, meanwhile, fall 8 places to 29th, as they gained no points over the qualifiers.
5. France and Italy: France finally start to rise in rank again. They've stopped losing, and that's helping change their average points back where they should be. Italy have dropped points after a draw with Northern Ireland, and the abandoned match gives no points.
6. Greece: This team seems attached to twelfth. They have not moved at all since I started keeping track of the ranks, and the last time they changed position was in June when they came up one place from thirteenth.
7. Scotland: They were the UK's second team, but luck for Northern Ireland has lost the Scots position. It's entirely unfair for them to be drawn against Spain, and they played a good game. But playing well doesn't count for any points, so they remain third in the UK (fourth including Ireland).
8. Wales: At least Scotland aren't Wales, who finally start losing position. They're down into the 100s now, having lost 20 places to go 105th.
9. Israel: They've gone down 20 places as well. Israel have strange form, sometimes being better and sometimes worse. Their home league isn't that bad, so it's hard to know what's up internationally.
10. Cyprus: Who knows what is happening with Cyprus? They drew 4-4 with Portugal, but now have such bad form they drop 45 places to 88th! Their performance is even less understandable than Israel's.
11. Central African Republic: Not a European team, which is why I saved them till last. I predicted they'd rise, but not by this much! Sixty places up to 112th makes them the fastest-rising team in the world. Fellow Africans Niger also rose well, with 54 places, to go 100th.
13/10/2010
Euro 2012 Qualification: 13/10/2010 Results
The best UK team this weekend was Northern Ireland, with two draws, although they should have done better against the Faroe Islands. The worst team was Wales, who had two losses - to Montenegro and Switzerland. Scotland also had two losses, but they did too well against Spain to be the worst UK team this weekend. England barely scrape ahead of Scotland, as they should have done better against Montenegro.
Most unexpected result: Azerbaijan 1 – 0 Turkey. Surprising because Azerbaijan are 102nd in the world to Turkey's 21st. This is Azerbaijan's first win of Euro 2012 qualifying after losses against Germany and Austria. Turkey are suffering their second loss this weekend after Germany on Friday, but beat Begium and Kazakhstan previously.
Most predictable result: Armenia 4 – 0 Andorra. I'd have gone for the San Marino game, but they didn't get quite as bad a score as usual, since they were playing against Moldova. Actually, since the gap is smaller for Armenia and Andorra, San Marino are doing better than their fellow poor-scorers.
Most embarrassing result: Estonia 0 – 1 Slovenia. The only goal in this game was an Estonian own goal. Funnily enough, Serbia scored an own goal against Estonia on Friday, which got them the most embarrassing result for that round of qualification matches.
Most promising result: France 2 – 0 Luxembourg. France are winning again. Okay, Luxembourg are easy, but they also beat Romania. Perhaps they can start rising in the ranks again.
Most unusual result: Italy – Serbia. They're taking two of the 'awards tonight'. An abandonment counts as an unusual result in anyone's book. For completed games. This goes to Belgium 4 – 4 Austria, who are only one place apart in the FIFA rankings. This pair of Western European countries kept their fans excited to the end, with first one then the other team getting ahead. Two goals were scored in extra time – one by each team!
Cleanest game: Netherlands 4 – 1 Sweden. It was a toss-up between three games, but the Netherlands got it because of their improved form since the World Cup final.
Dirtiest game: Italy - Serbia. And it was the fans, not the players, who made this game dirty. Serbian fans, to be precise. They had already clashed with Italian police, and continued their poor behaviour at the stadium. As the players were emerging onto the pitch, some Serbian hooligans set off fireworks and threw flares onto the pitch. The players had to return to their dressing rooms as Italian riot cops confronted the fans. The match eventually started 40 minutes late, after a nasty booing of the Serbian national anthem by the Italian fans. After a mere seven minutes it was abandoned by the Scottish referee. Terrible! Why do British referees always get the bad games?
Most unexpected result: Azerbaijan 1 – 0 Turkey. Surprising because Azerbaijan are 102nd in the world to Turkey's 21st. This is Azerbaijan's first win of Euro 2012 qualifying after losses against Germany and Austria. Turkey are suffering their second loss this weekend after Germany on Friday, but beat Begium and Kazakhstan previously.
Most predictable result: Armenia 4 – 0 Andorra. I'd have gone for the San Marino game, but they didn't get quite as bad a score as usual, since they were playing against Moldova. Actually, since the gap is smaller for Armenia and Andorra, San Marino are doing better than their fellow poor-scorers.
Most embarrassing result: Estonia 0 – 1 Slovenia. The only goal in this game was an Estonian own goal. Funnily enough, Serbia scored an own goal against Estonia on Friday, which got them the most embarrassing result for that round of qualification matches.
Most promising result: France 2 – 0 Luxembourg. France are winning again. Okay, Luxembourg are easy, but they also beat Romania. Perhaps they can start rising in the ranks again.
Most unusual result: Italy – Serbia. They're taking two of the 'awards tonight'. An abandonment counts as an unusual result in anyone's book. For completed games. This goes to Belgium 4 – 4 Austria, who are only one place apart in the FIFA rankings. This pair of Western European countries kept their fans excited to the end, with first one then the other team getting ahead. Two goals were scored in extra time – one by each team!
Cleanest game: Netherlands 4 – 1 Sweden. It was a toss-up between three games, but the Netherlands got it because of their improved form since the World Cup final.
Dirtiest game: Italy - Serbia. And it was the fans, not the players, who made this game dirty. Serbian fans, to be precise. They had already clashed with Italian police, and continued their poor behaviour at the stadium. As the players were emerging onto the pitch, some Serbian hooligans set off fireworks and threw flares onto the pitch. The players had to return to their dressing rooms as Italian riot cops confronted the fans. The match eventually started 40 minutes late, after a nasty booing of the Serbian national anthem by the Italian fans. After a mere seven minutes it was abandoned by the Scottish referee. Terrible! Why do British referees always get the bad games?
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