FIFA ranking: Spain on top, Iran biggest mover

FIFA.com – ZURICH, In the last edition for the year of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, the top ten remain unchanged. Spain continue to lead the table ahead of Germany and Argentina, followed by Colombia, Portugal and Uruguay.

Two Asian teams have this month achieved their highest-ever rankings: the Philippines (127th, up 6) and Guam (161st, up 8).

World and European champions Spain top the final ranking of the year for the sixth time in a row, securing themselves once again the title of Team of the Year. The highest climbers of 2013, thanks to nine wins, two draws and only one defeat, are Ukraine, who have collected no fewer than 312 points since December 2012, moving up 29 places to 18th and gaining the title of Mover of the Year for the first time.

It has also been an extremely successful year for Armenia (35th, up 259 points since December 2012) and the USA (14th, up 237 points since December 2012).

A look at the changes in the regional composition of the top 50 since December 2012 shows that the number of teams from CONCACAF (five teams in the top 50, plus 2) and CAF (9, plus 1) has increased slightly at the expense of UEFA (26, minus 1), CONMEBOL (8, minus 1) and the AFC (2, minus 1), while the OFC still does not have any teams in the top 50.

The top-ranked teams within CONCACAF and the AFC have changed since last year (this year they are the USA and Iran respectively, in 2012 Mexico and Japan), while in the other confederations the best teams are the same as in 2012: Spain, Argentina, Côte d’Ivoire and New Zealand.

The results of 30 international matches have been taken into account for the current edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. In total in 2013, the results of 918 matches have been taken into account, many of which were friendlies (415) and more than a third of which (347) were qualifying matches for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™.

Summary