FIFA rankings: New formula sees Macedonia’s points triple

FIFA introduced a new formula for calculating the points that brought significantly more points to all national teams. Macedonia now shares the 70th place with Saudi Arabia.

As you can see by the rankings below, Macedonia jumped one place but has trice more points than the last rankings. That is thanks to the new formula used for calculating. The Lynx were inactive since the last ranking as no friendly match was arranged to be played.

The new formula relies on adding/subtracting points won or lost for a game to/from the previous point totals rather than averaging game points over a given time period as in the previous version of the Ranking. The changes, of which there are several, include the fact that inactive teams now preserve their point totals, with no devaluation of older games. Points are dropped, however, from losing or drawing against weaker opposition, with the only exception to this rule matches in knockout rounds of major competitions such as the FIFA World Cup. More details about the formula used in the algorithm, weightings of matches and other characteristics can be found here.


66. alt Algeria 1351
67. Ivory Coast Ivory Coast 1344
67. Guinea Guinea 1344
69.  Panama 1343
70. Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 1336
70. Macedonia Macedonia 1336
72. El Salvador El Salvador 1332
73. Syria Syria 1328
74. South Africa South Africa 1327
75. China China 1320
76. Zambia Zambia 1315

Top 10 in the FIFA World Rankings for August 2018:

1. France France 1726
2. Belgium Belgium 1723
3. Brazil Brazil 1657
4. Croatia Croatia 1643
5. Uruguay Uruguay 1627
6. England England 1615
7. Portugal Portugal 1599
8. Switzerland Switzerland 1597
9. Spain Spain 1580
9. Denmark Denmark 1580

FIFA Rankings for the Balkan countries (actual ranking in brackets):

1. (4.) Croatia Croatia 1643
2. (28.) Romania Romania 1490
3. (36.) Serbia Serbia 1459
4. (38.) Turkey Turkey 1455
5. (39.) Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina 1452
6. (41.) Montenegro Montenegro 1440
7. (42.) Greece Greece 1436
8. (47.) Bulgaria Bulgaria 1416
9. (55.) Slovenia Slovenia 1392
10. (58.) Albania Albania 1384
11. (70.) Macedonia Macedonia 1336
12. (141.) Kosovo Kosovo 1080

FIFA Rankings for UEFA members (actual ranking in brackets, showing only the bottom 25):

31. (51.) Hungary Hungary 1409
32. (53.) Norway Norway 1406
33. (55.) Slovenia Slovenia 1392
34. (58.) Albania Albania 1384
35. (62.) Finland Finland 1364
36. (70.) Macedonia Macedonia 1336
37. (78). Belarus Belarus 1306
38. (85.) Luxembourg Luxembourg 1286
39. (87.) Cyprus Cyprus 1280
40. (90.) Faroe Islands Faroe Islands 1268
43. (93.) Israel Israel 1256
40. (94.) Estonia Estonia 1250
42. (96.) Georgia Georgia 1242
43. (100.) Armenia Armenia 1227
46. (105.) Azerbaijan Azerbaijan 1207
45. (116.) Kazakhstan Kazakhstan 1167
48. (127.) Lithuania Lithuania 1130
49. (129.) Latvia Latvia 1122
47. (130.) Andorra Andorra 1120
50. (141.) Kosovo Kosovo 1080
51. (175.) Moldova Moldova 957
52. (180.) Liechtenstein Liechtenstein 944
53. (184.) Malta Malta 928
54. (195.) Gibraltar Gibraltar 900
55. (203.) San Marino San Marino 876

UEFA Nations League Group 4 rankings:

1. (70.) Macedonia Macedonia 1336
2. (100.) Armenia Armenia 1227
3. (180.) Liechtenstein Liechtenstein 944
4. (195.) Gibraltar Gibraltar 900

The next rankings will be published on 20 September 2018 after the first two rounds of the UEFA Nations League.

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