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The FIFA World Rankings is a ranking system for men's national teams in Football (soccer) . The teams of the Member Nations of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest. A point system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of FIFA-recognized international matches. Under the existing system, rankings are based on a team's performance over the last four years, with more recent results and more significant matches being more heavily weighted to help reflect the current competitive state of a team. The ranking system was most recently revamped after the 2006 World Cup , with the first edition of the new series of rankings issued on July 12 , 2006 . The most significant change is that the rankings are now based on results over the previous four years instead of the previous eight years. The change is perceived to respond to criticisms that the rankings do not effectively reflect the relative strengths of the national teams. (See section '' Criticism ''). Other alternative systems have been devised, such as the World Football Elo Ratings , based on the Elo Rating System used in chess, ranking teams on an all time basis. The UFWC (Unofficial Football World Championships) ranks teams on the number of times they have defended the Unofficial Football World Championship, an award devised solely for that purpose. HISTORY FIFA World Ranking Leaders In December 1992, FIFA first published a listing in rank order of its member associations provide a basis for comparison of the relative strengths of these teams. From the following August, with sponsorship from Coca-Cola , this list was more frequently updated, to be published most months.1 Significant changes were implemented in 1999 and again in 2006, as a reaction to criticisms of the system. Revised FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking , FIFA Media Department, July 06 2006, Accessed October 2006 Membership of FIFA has expanded from 167 to 208 since the rankings began. 1999 update When the rankings were initially introduced, a team received one point for a draw and three for a victory in FIFA-recognized matches - much the same as a traditional league scoring system. This was a quite simplistic approach, however, and FIFA quickly realised that there were many factors affecting international matches. In order to meet the objective of fairly and accurately comparing the relative strengths of various national sides, the system was updated. The major changes were as follows:
Two new awards were introduced as part of the system: The changes made the ranking system more complex, but helped improve its accuracy by making it more comprehensive. 2006 ranking system update FIFA announced that the ranking system would be updated following the 2006 World Cup . The evaluation period was cut from eight to four years, and a simpler method of calculation is now used to determine rankings.2 Goals scored and home or away advantage are no longer taken into account, and other aspects of the calculations, including the importance attributed to different types of match, have been revised. The first set of revised rankings — and the calculation methodology — were announced on 12 July 2006 . This change is rooted at least in part in widespread criticism of the previous ranking system. Many football enthusiasts felt it was inaccurate — especially when compared to other ranking systems — and that it was not sufficiently responsive to changes in the performance of individual teams. The recent and unexpectedly high rankings of teams from the Czech Republic and the United States were generally met with scepticism and negatively affected the credibility of the system in the eyes of many followers of the sport. The poor showings and early exit of these two sides from the 2006 World Cup competition appear to lend some credence to the criticism. Rank leaders When the system was introduced, Germany debuted as the top ranked team following their extended period of dominance in which they had reached the three previous FIFA World Cup finals, winning one of them. Brazil took the lead in the run up to the 1994 FIFA World Cup after winning eight and losing only one of nine qualification matches, while on the way scoring twenty goals and conceding just four. Italy then led for a short time on the back of their own equally successful World Cup qualifying campaign, after which the top place was re-claimed by Germany. Brazil's success in their lengthy qualifying campaign returned them to the lead for a brief period. Germany led again during the 1994 World Cup, until Brazil’s victory in that competition gave them a large lead that would stand up for nearly seven years, until they were surpassed by a strong France team that captured both the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2000 European Football Championship . Success at the 2002 FIFA World Cup restored Brazil to the top position, where they remained until February 2007, when Italy returned to the top for the first time since 1993 following their 2006 FIFA World Cup win in Germany. Just one month later, Argentina replaced them, reaching the top for the first time, but Italy regained its place in April. After winning the Copa America 2007 in July, Brazil returned to the top. USES OF THE RANKINGS The rankings are used by FIFA to rank the progression and current ability of the National Football Teams of its member nations. The data is used by FIFA for very few things, as FIFA says they are only to create "a reliable measure for comparing national A-teams". However, one task they are used for is as part of the calculation to Seed competitions.3 The rankings are also used to determine the winners of the two annual awards national teams receive on the basis of their performance in the rankings. CRITICISM |
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