Scotland climb in world rankings

SLG · Scotland climb in world rankings

Scotland have risen nine places to 25th in the world rankings following a recent run of good form.
Walter Smith's side enjoyed wins over Faroe Islands and Lithuania before securing a shock victory against World Cup finalists France at Hampden.

However, a 2-0 defeat to Ukraine in Kiev four days after the win over Les Bleus ended their 100% record.

Scotland are level with Egypt after moving above Russia, USA and Poland in the rankings.

The Scots sit joint top of Group B in the Euro 2008 qualifiers alongside France, with nine points from four games.

Cymro

The World Rankings are a pile of s***e. (and I'm not jhust saying that because Wales will be even lower!).

I think Scotland could beat Egypt, but I don't think you could beat Poland and the USA.

And unfortunatly no matter how well Scotland do, they will never break into the Top 10 as it's still weighed in favour of the big countries.

Congal

Well we have summit to crow. We're above Eire for the first time. Maybe they'll give us a break now about an all-ireland team Rolling Eyes

SLG

SLG

Cymro

The rules have changed right enough, and it's supposed to make it easier to the smaller teams. But the friendlies still count less. Also how can they say Scotland aren't as good as Egypt when they have never faced each other (to my knowledge). At least in a club league like the SPL every club faces each other so you can tell who's the best team.

Also I wouldn't call Portugal a small team in footballing terms. The Portugese league is a good league, especially with Benfica, Porto and Sporting Lisbon being amongst the best teams in Europe over the last few years. Also the performance and pedigree of Portugese players within the national side is fantastic at times.

The size of the country isn't important, it's how they develop as a team.

Don't get me wrong, I congratualte Scotland on the fantastic change in the club over the last few years, so by no means is it sour grapes by myself.

Also, Wales drew 0-0 with Argentina not too long ago, beat Italy, and played well against the Brazilians. What does that make us?

Scott2006

http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/stati...8,123855,00.html?articleid=123855

The "Home" Nations
5 England 1370 down 1 position, down 107 points
25 Scotland 810 points, up 9 places, up 64 points
45 Northern Ireland 600 pts, up 13 places, up 114 pts
77 Wales 429 pts, down 15 places, down 50 points

Top 10
1 Brazil 1560 0 -14
2 Italy 1540 3 66
3 France 1483 -1 -51
4 Argentina 1446 -1 -46
5 England 1370 -1 -107
6 Germany 1339 2 48
7 Netherlands 1313 -1 -14
8 Czech Republic 1253 -1 -59
9 Portugal 1224 0 -48
10 Spain 1198 0 -57

I'd like to think Scotland can establish themselves in the top 20 during this current campaign (joint 19th Mexico, Croatia 882pts).

Overall we only notice these rankings when we are going up and ignore them when we fall. Just a bit of fun really.

SLG

Not sure we're good enough for the top 20. Just takes a couple of good results though. I think some decent wins recently have deflected some clear deficiencies in the team and squad.

Scott2006

Just a note about something that slipped by unnoticed...

Scotland move up the world rankings! (Alright only one place)

http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/stati...8,126111,00.html?articleid=126111

A Top 25
Rank Team Pts: Nov 06, +/-Rank Oct 06, +/-Pts: Oct 06
1 Brazil 1588 0 28
2 Italy 1560 0 20
3 Argentina 1551 1 105
4 France 1523 -1 40
5 England 1359 0 -11
6 Germany 1348 0 9
7 Netherlands 1305 0 -8
8 Portugal 1258 1 34
9 Nigeria 1242 2 103
10 Czech Republic 1190 -2 -63
11 Cameroon 1160 1 50
12 Spain 1154 -2 -44
13 Ukraine 1054 0 0
14 Sweden 958 2 -17
15 Croatia 948 4 66
16 Greece 945 -2 -34
17 Switzerland 937 -2 -41
18 Côte d'Ivoire 919 0 26
19 Romania 912 4 42
20 Mexico 887 -1 5
21 Denmark 865 1 -7
22 Poland 859 5 55
23 Russia 858 10 94
24 Scotland 847 1 37
25 Turkey 845 -4 -28

48 Northern Ireland 625 -3 25
49 Republic of Ireland 599 0 28
73 Wales 428 4 -1

Next rankings on 18th December.

Our group opponents rankings:
Italy 2nd 1560 0 20
France 4th 1523 -1 40
Ukraine 13th 1054 0 0
Lithuania 70th 453 0 -2
Georgia 95th 327 3 25
Faroe Islands 185th 31 0 0

Going by rankings we should be good enough to get 4th place.