FIFA World Rankings

Calculation method

The current calculation method has been in use since August 2018, having been introduced in the ranking release after the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The formula is based on the Elo rating system and after each game points are added to or subtracted from a team's rating according to the formula:

P

=

P

before

+

I

(

W

−

W

e

)

{\displaystyle P=P_{\text{before}}+I(W-W_{e})}

where:

Pbefore – the team's number of points before the game

I – the importance coefficient:

5 – friendlies played outside the International Match Calendar windows

10 – friendlies played within the International Match Calendar windows

15 – Nations League matches (group stage)

25 – Nations League matches (play-offs and finals), Confederations' final competitions qualifiers, FIFA World Cup qualifiers

35 – Confederations' final competitions matches (before quarter-finals)

Transition

The current ranking system represented a major change from the previous versions. Its introduction began with a review that was announced by FIFA in September 2017, with a view to a decision on whether to make changes after the end of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. FIFA announced on 10 June 2018 that the ranking system would be updated following the 2018 World Cup finals. The most significant change was to move away from a system in which points were accrued for victories or draws and then dropped after a certain date (as used in systems such as the ATP and WTA rankings in tennis), to a continuous rating system in which teams' points increase or decrease with the result of every match. In addition to this, the current calculation method abolishes the weightings designated for FIFA's continental confederations and retained the 2006 changes which ascribed no value to whether a game was home or away, or to the margin of the victory, unlike several unofficial Elo-based ranking systems.

FIFA had intended to introduce the new ranking system in July 2018 immediately after the FIFA World Cup, but with no matches scheduled between the July and August ranking dates, this was delayed until August 2018. There was speculation from football journalists such as ESPN's Dale Johnson that this was because projections of the new rankings had seen relatively little change in positions, with Germany – who had been eliminated in the first round of the World Cup – remaining as the top ranked team.

FIFA had originally planned to use the pre-existing world ranking points from June 2018 as the start value, but by the time of the rankings' release in August 2018, the starting points had been changed. The numbers entered into the calculations for the August 2018 ranking had an equal distribution of points between 1600 (Germany, as the previously top ranked team) and 868 (Anguilla, Bahamas, Eritrea, Somalia, Tonga and Turks and Caicos Islands, which had 0 points in June), according to the formula:

P

seeding

=

1600

−

(

R

−

Analysis of model properties

A 2022 analysis of the ranking argued that the 2018 system is a clear improvement over the previous FIFA rankings. This analysis noted that, unlike a pure Elo rating which are a zero-sum game where the total number of ranking points stays constant, the FIFA rankings will slowly inflate the number of points. This inflation is caused by:

Penalty shootouts, when

W

winner

=

0.75

{\displaystyle W_{\text{winner}}=0.75}

and

W

loser

=

0.5

{\displaystyle W_{\text{loser}}=0.5}

, thus

W

winner

+

W

loser

=

1.25

{\displaystyle W_{\text{winner}}+W_{\text{loser}}=1.25}

,

The knockout stages of competitions, where

W

−

W

e

Historical calculation methods

In December 1992, FIFA first published a listing in rank order of its men's member associations to provide a basis for comparison of the relative strengths of these teams. From the following August, this list was more frequently updated, to be published most months. Significant changes were implemented in January 1999 and again in July 2006, as a reaction to criticisms of the system. Historical records of the rankings, such as listed at FIFA.com, reflect the method of calculation in use at the time, as the current method has not been applied retrospectively to rankings before July 2006. Membership of FIFA has expanded from 167 to 211 since the rankings began; 211 members are currently included in the rankings. The Cook Islands were temporarily removed from the ranking in the period from September 2019 until February 2022, after not having played any matches between 4 September 2015 until 17 March 2022.

The ranking formula used from December 1992 until December 1998, was devised by two Swiss lecturers from Zurich University (Markus Lamprecht and Dr. Hanspeter Stam). The first formula was the most simple one, compared to later revisions, but it still required complex calculation. The main concept was to award points for matches played between all FIFA-affiliated national A teams, based on their results over the past eight years in FIFA-recognised matches (friendly matches, qualifying and finals matches for the World Cup, and qualifying and final matches for a Continental championship): Three points for a win, one point for a draw and no points for a loss. Results were not included from matches played by the FIFA association's: B teams, C teams, League XI teams, Women, U17, U20, U23 and futsal teams. The calculation formula was adjusted by the following factors:

Points for winning, drawing or losing: Compensatory factors for the relative strength of the two teams involved are included, so that a victory of a lower-ranked team over a higher-ranked team is awarded a higher number of winning-points compared to a victory of a higher-ranked team over a lower-ranked team. Likewise the points from a draw will be higher for the lower-ranked team compared to the higher-ranked team.

Points for goals scored or conceded: Goals are granted the same number of points whether or not they were scored in ordinary time or extended time. Zero points were granted from goals scored or conceded in a penalty shoot-out. Goals scored by a higher-ranked team against a lower-ranked team was also given slightly fewer points, compared to goals scored by a lower-ranked team against a higher-ranked team. Moreover, it was decided that the first goal scored by a team would be awarded more points compared to the subsequently scored goals in the same match. The total number of points from goals being scored or conceded, would be of such small scale, that the points awarded from the match result (winning/drawing) would always be of a higher value.

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 América 2007 in July, Brazil returned to the top, but were replaced by Italy in September and then Argentina in October.

In July 2008, Spain took over the lead for the first time, having won UEFA Euro 2008. Brazil began a sixth stint at the top of the rankings in July 2009 after winning the 2009 Confederations Cup, and Spain regained the title in November 2009 after winning every match in qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In April 2010, Brazil returned to the top of the table. After winning the 2010 World Cup, Spain regained the top position and held it until August 2011, when the Netherlands reached the top spot for the first time, only to relinquish it the following month.

In July 2014, Germany took over the lead once again, having won the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In July 2015, Argentina reached the top spot for the first time since 2008, after reaching the final of both the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2015 Copa America. In November 2015, Belgium became the leader in the FIFA rankings for the first time, after topping their Euro 2016 qualifying group. Belgium led the rankings until April 2016, when Argentina returned to the top. In April 2017, Brazil returned to the No. 1 spot for the first time since 2010, with Germany regaining the top spot in July after winning the Confederations Cup.

Schedule

Rankings are published multiple times a year. The most recent update was on 7 October 2026. The next update is scheduled for 18 November 2026. Since 2026, FIFA also releases a 'live ranking' during tournaments and after friendly matches, for comparative purposes only.

Use of the rankings

The rankings are used by FIFA to rank the progression and ability of the national football teams of its member nations, and claims that they create "a reliable measure for comparing national A-teams". They are used as part of the calculation, or the entire grounds to seed competitions. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament, the rankings were used to seed the groups in the competitions involving CONCACAF members (using the May rankings), CAF (with the July set of data), and UEFA, using the specially postponed November 2007 ranking positions. The October 2009 ranking was used to determine the seeds for the 2010 FIFA World Cup final draw. The March 2011 ranking was used to seed the draw for the 2012 CAF Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament second qualifying round. 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. The Football Association uses the average of the last 24 months of rankings as one of the criteria for player work permits.

Special releases

To determine the seeding of teams in certain instances like FIFA World Cup qualification, FIFA occasionally releases a list of special rankings for a particular confederation to determine the seeding of the teams. For instance, the seeding for the third round draw for AFC qualifiers was based on a special release of the FIFA World Rankings for Asian teams on 18 June 2021.

Awards

Each year FIFA hands out two major awards to its member nations, based on their rankings.

Team of the Year

The Team of the Year is awarded each year to the first ranked team in the December edition of the FIFA World Ranking. Spain are the most recent winners of the award, for the seventh time in the 33-year history of the rankings. Brazil hold the records for the most consecutive wins (seven, between 1994 and 2000) and most wins overall (thirteen). The table shows the three best teams of each year.

Best Mover of the Year

The Best Mover of the Year is awarded to the team who made the best progress up the rankings over the course of the year. In the FIFA rankings, this is not simply the team that has risen the most places, but a calculation is performed in order to account for the fact that it becomes progressively harder to earn more points the higher up the rankings a team is. The calculation done for the years 1993–2006, the era before the major FIFA World ranking calculation revision in July 2006, is the number of points the team has at the end of the year (z) multiplied by the number of points it earned during the year (y). The team with the highest index on this calculation received the award. The 1993–2006 table shows the top three best movers for each year.

In the years from 1993 until 2006, an official Best Mover Award was handed over to the coach of the winning national football team at the annual FIFA World Player Gala. For example, the coach of the Slovenia national football team (Srečko Katanec) received this official award at the FIFA World Player 1999 Awards Gala, with the award granted a few days after the year had ended on 24 January 2000. The award has not been an official part of the annual FIFA awards gala show, The Best FIFA Football Awards, since the show for 2006.

While an official award has not been made for national team movements since 2006, FIFA has continued each year to release a list of the 'Best Movers' in the rankings. An example of the informal on-going "Mover of the Year" award is the recognition made by FIFA to Colombia in 2012 in an official press release. After implementation of the major FIFA World ranking calculation revision in July 2006, the calculation methodology to decide the "Mover of the Year" ranking also changed in 2007, to simply the difference between the FIFA world ranking points by the end of the year compared to 12 months earlier. The Best Mover results for all subsequent years are based on the same methodology.