Australia still lead OFC teams despite their three losses at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany. They are ranked 60 (-3 positions from June 2005) with New Zealand back at 107 (-1).
Tahiti remain the leading Pacfic Island nation occupying 133 (-3) closely followed by Solomon Islands 135= (-1). Fiji’s ranking of 141 (-2) may improve after their upcoming international matches with India who are ranked 10 places higher. Vanuatu stay at 147, Papua New Guinea drop 2 places to 164, Samoa 178= and Tonga 184 are unchanged from June. New Caledonia move up one place to 185=, Cook Islands 193 (-3) and American Samoa remain at 205.
61 international matches were played in the June – July period with Germany one of the big movers up ten places to 11. Brazil and Argentina still sit atop the rankings, with the Netherlands close behind at 3, their best ranking in eleven years. USA (6) also occupy their highest ever spot in the rankings on the back of their success in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
FIFA/ Coca-Cola World Rankings
1. Brazil
2. Argentina
3. Netherlands
4. Czech Rep.
5. Mexico
6. USA
7. France
8= England
8= Spain
10. Portugal
60. Australia
107. New Zealand
133. Tahiti
135= Solomon Islands
141. Fiji
147. Vanuatu
164. Papua New Guinea
178= Samoa
184. Tonga
185= New Caledonia
193. Cook Islands
205. American Samoa
The Ranking System
The FIFA/ Coca-Cola World Ranking evaluates all matches played by senior national teams (World Cup finals matches, World Cup premliminary matches, Confederation championship matches, Confederation championship preliminary matches, friendly matches).
The calculation of a team’s points is based on the following six criteria;
1. Winning, drawing, and losing
2. Number of goals
3. Home or away match
4. Importance of match (multiplication factor)
5. Strength of the opponent
6. Regional strength (multiplication factor)
Click the link for the full FIFA/ Coca-Cola World Rankings
*The next FIFA/ Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 17 August 2005.