Developed by Dr. Arpad Elo. This system is used by FIDE, the international chess federation, to rate chess players. In 1997 Bob Runyan adapted the Elo rating system to international football and posted the results on the Internet. He was also the first maintainer of the World Football Elo Ratings web site. Iran has been as high as 15th place on this system.
The World Elo ratings (a more accurate measure of team strength; take various football-specific variables into account, like the margin of victory, importance of a match, and home field advantage) has Iran at 20th, however history suggests that Iran’s thin squad will run out of juice eventually, since teams with no European representatives have struggled to stay in the Elo top 30. ( big factor is the five European league player participation). {interestingly enough FIFA's women ranking method uses a variation of Elo measurement}
Iran’s success appears to be in spite of its national attributes, not because of them. Indeed, after controlling for population, wealth and player experience, author Simon Kuper and economist Stefan Szymanski found that Team Melli was one of the most over-performing international sides between 1980 and 2001. The country is certainly much poorer than its local rivals: its GDP per person is less than half of that for Australians, South Koreans or the Japanese. When it comes to size, Iran’s 80m inhabitants leave it a way behind Japan (127m), not too far ahead of South Korea (52m), and dwarfed by China (1.38bn). In terms of talent, the primacy of the sport should give it an edge: Australia’s most gifted athletes are usually pinched by cricket, rugby or Australian-rules football, whereas baseball and basketball are hugely popular in South Korea and Japan. Iran is famed for its weightlifters and wrestlers, but football is the only team sport in town.
Still, that advantage doesn’t seem to count for much. Its domestic league is weak, ranking seventh in the region, with only a pittance spent on transfers each season. And where once Iran exported several players to Europe’s best leagues, today it sends hardly any. A decade ago, the majority of Team Melli played in one of the “big-five” divisions—those in England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France. This season only one, 30-year-old Ashkan Dejagah, has earned his keep in such an illustrious competition. Though a few play in lesser European leagues, even the most ardent Iranian fans would agree that their side is lacking in world-class players.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/gamet...-east-was-lost
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_...ll_Elo_Ratings
Article may have some holes in its argument (I don't buy TM fading under current management) but that rating truly reflects our huge jump in recent years.
The World Elo ratings (a more accurate measure of team strength; take various football-specific variables into account, like the margin of victory, importance of a match, and home field advantage) has Iran at 20th, however history suggests that Iran’s thin squad will run out of juice eventually, since teams with no European representatives have struggled to stay in the Elo top 30. ( big factor is the five European league player participation). {interestingly enough FIFA's women ranking method uses a variation of Elo measurement}
Iran’s success appears to be in spite of its national attributes, not because of them. Indeed, after controlling for population, wealth and player experience, author Simon Kuper and economist Stefan Szymanski found that Team Melli was one of the most over-performing international sides between 1980 and 2001. The country is certainly much poorer than its local rivals: its GDP per person is less than half of that for Australians, South Koreans or the Japanese. When it comes to size, Iran’s 80m inhabitants leave it a way behind Japan (127m), not too far ahead of South Korea (52m), and dwarfed by China (1.38bn). In terms of talent, the primacy of the sport should give it an edge: Australia’s most gifted athletes are usually pinched by cricket, rugby or Australian-rules football, whereas baseball and basketball are hugely popular in South Korea and Japan. Iran is famed for its weightlifters and wrestlers, but football is the only team sport in town.
Still, that advantage doesn’t seem to count for much. Its domestic league is weak, ranking seventh in the region, with only a pittance spent on transfers each season. And where once Iran exported several players to Europe’s best leagues, today it sends hardly any. A decade ago, the majority of Team Melli played in one of the “big-five” divisions—those in England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France. This season only one, 30-year-old Ashkan Dejagah, has earned his keep in such an illustrious competition. Though a few play in lesser European leagues, even the most ardent Iranian fans would agree that their side is lacking in world-class players.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/gamet...-east-was-lost
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_...ll_Elo_Ratings
Article may have some holes in its argument (I don't buy TM fading under current management) but that rating truly reflects our huge jump in recent years.
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