FIJI HEAD PACIFIC NATIONS IN LATEST FIFA RANKINGS

Fiji has jumped above Tahiti and Solomon Islands to claim top spot amongst the island nations in the latest FIFA/ Coca-Cola World Rankings. Up two spots to 137, Fiji still trail Australia and New Zealand as the top nations in the Oceania Football Confederation.

Australia (54) drops four places despite their recent 5-0 triumph over Jamaica in London, and New Zealand (116) are down five places.

Following the leading three nations are Tahiti and Solomon Islands who share 138, followed by Vanuatu ten places back (148). Papua New Guinea move up a place to 164, followed by Samoa (179), Tonga (184), New Caledonia (185), Cook Islands (193), with American Samoa (205) remaining at the foot of the world rankings.

Elsewhere, the closing stages of the 2006 FIFA World Cup GermanyTM qualifiers caused a few ripples in the standings. Brazil and the Netherlands continue to reign supreme, the Czech Republic (3, up 1) swap places with Argentina (4, down 1), and France (5th, up 1) with Mexico (6, down 1). England, for their part, break back into the top ten (9, up 2).

Of the 27 teams that have qualified for the finals so far, 14 feature in the top 20 and another 11 are ranked between 21 and 50. Ghana (51) and Angola (60) are the only two qualifiers not in the top 50.

Victories by Uruguay (17, up 8), Croatia (19, up 5), Serbia and Montenegro (42, up 6) are worth noting, as is World Cup newcomer Togo’s sparkling debut in the top 50 (49, up 5), with Ghana (51, up 11) in hot pursuit. Neither Nigeria’s upswing (23, up 6) nor Scotland’s surge up the ladder (62, up 12) is enough to earn them a ticket to the World Cup.

The next FIFA/ Coca-Cola World Ranking list will be published on 23 November 2005.

FIFA/ Coca-Cola World Rankings (ranking at September 2005)

1. Brazil (1)

2. Netherlands (2)

3. Czech Rep. (4)

4. Argentina (3)

5. France (6)

6. Mexico (5)

7. USA (7)

8. Spain (8)

9= England (11)

9= Portugal (9)

54. Australia (50)

116. New Zealand (111)

137. Fiji (139)

138= Solomon Islands (138)

138= Tahiti (137)

148. Vanuatu (148)

164. Papua New Guinea (165)

179. Samoa (178)

184. Tonga (184)

186. New Caledonia (185)

193. Cook Islands (193)

205. American Samoa (205)

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)