This months ratings are a little late, but fortunately there was very little international action in April so there’s not going to be much of a change. Ratings are for all games finished by April 30, 2007.

A huge thanks to Advanced Satellite Consulting Ltd whose site contains a ton of valuable data on international football results. FIFA is also an obviously useful source.

Here’s the team ratings which include games finished on March 31, 2007. Euro and African Nations Cup qualifiers have helped move folks around a little, and Brazil finally overtakes france for the top spot.

A huge thanks to Advanced Satellite Consulting Ltd whose site contains a ton of valuable data on international football results. FIFA is also an obviously useful source.

Here’s the team ratings which include games finished on February 28, 2007. As you can see the U.S. has moved up a couple of spots, but that’s mostly due to a large clustering of teams around them. A little movement one way or the other can cause the change.

A huge thanks to Advanced Satellite Consulting Ltd whose site contains a ton of valuable data on international football results. FIFA is also an obviously useful source.

Here’s the team ratings which include games finished on January 31, 2007. Once again a new team has been added to the rankings. Welcome Comoros, a small island group north of Madagascar in eastern Africa. They don’t look completely horrible (though we have only two official results so far), so they’re all the way up at 175th in the Rankings.

A huge thanks to Advanced Satellite Consulting Ltd whose site contains a ton of valuable data on international football results. FIFA is also an obviously useful source.

Here’s the team ratings which include games finished on December 31, 2006. So these are the year end ratings. I’ll try and come up with ratings at the beginning of each month from here.

A huge thanks to Advanced Satellite Consulting Ltd whose site contains a ton of valuable data on international football results. FIFA is also an obviously useful source.

Here’s the team ratings which include games finished on December 10, 2006.

Note: in my previous editions, I had not included matches East Timor had played because I didn’t know that they had been recently added to the official list of FIFA designated teams. There are a number of countries (e.g. Guadeloupe and Martinique) who play matches but aren’t full FIFA members so their matches don’t count as “‘A’ internationals.” I thought East Timor (Timor Leste) was still one such team, but apparently they are not. So now there are 206 National Teams who are rated instead of 205.

Also, I’ve included a Strength of Schedule number for the first time. As you can see, it’s on the same scale as the team ratings as it represents (essentially) the average strength of team that team has faced.

A huge thanks to Advanced Satellite Consulting Ltd whose site contains a ton of valuable data on international football results.

There is an ongoing discussion in US Youth Soccer circles over the consistent advantages kids born earlier in the year have when it comes to making youth teams. As food for thought, the following lists the months of birth for all of the players from 2006 World Cup rosters as well as how the US figures into that list.

Here’s the data broken down into quarters and converted to percentages to help clarify the data:

As you can see, the effect is barely noticeable when looking at all of the rosters (particularly when you remove the USA from those numbers) but is stark and clear from the USA roster. 80% of the American field players were born the first half of the year, and only Eddie Pope was born in the last three months among the 20 field players.

This data matches what we have tended to see at the youth levels from the US, with precious few players from the later months of the year making youth teams. I’ll let people draw their own conclusions from this.

Data is from FIFA .

Here’s a new set of International ratings for the midweek qualifying matches. Obviously not a lot of movement since the last post, but I figured I’d get these up. Enjoy.

A huge thanks to Advanced Satellite Consulting Ltd whose site contains a ton of valuable data on international football results.

MLS unveils new youth program

As guessed previously, players will retain collegiate eligibility.

Long overdue move from MLS and over time should be a boon to American soccer.

Massive computer failure has crippled my blog in its infancy so I’m trying to get some stuff out while I try and get it fixed.

Anyhow, one thing I can do is post updated international ratings. Note: there was a minor modification in the rating formulas that might cause slightly more team movement than normal.

  1. France                944.955 - UEFA
  2. Brazil                903.645 - CONMEBOL
  3. Argentina             838.342 - CONMEBOL
  4. Netherlands           807.582 - UEFA
  5. Italy                 762.401 - UEFA
  6. England               716.002 - UEFA
  7. Czech_Republic        657.668 - UEFA
  8. Spain                 647.460 - UEFA
  9. Germany               633.989 - UEFA
 10. Portugal              588.748 - UEFA
 11. Denmark               583.190 - UEFA
 12. Sweden                472.142 - UEFA
 13. Croatia               446.133 - UEFA
 14. Cameroon              443.317 - CAF
 15. Romania               440.510 - UEFA
 16. Greece                437.519 - UEFA
 17. Turkey                409.290 - UEFA
 18. Mexico                408.518 - CONCACAF
 19. Uruguay               383.197 - CONMEBOL
 20. Ivory_Coast           371.068 - CAF
 21. Switzerland           363.880 - UEFA
 22. Nigeria               361.283 - CAF
 23. Ireland               361.236 - UEFA
 24. Colombia              355.851 - CONMEBOL
 25. Paraguay              335.749 - CONMEBOL
 26. U.S.A.                333.460 - CONCACAF
 27. Serbia                325.006 - UEFA
 28. Ukraine               317.911 - UEFA
 29. Australia             302.103 - AFC
 30. Russia                296.422 - UEFA
 31. Norway                296.271 - UEFA
 32. Poland                294.851 - UEFA
 33. Bulgaria              292.633 - UEFA
 34. Ecuador               283.598 - CONMEBOL
 35. Senegal               266.673 - CAF
 36. Japan                 260.650 - AFC
 37. Belgium               255.416 - UEFA
 38. Egypt                 250.011 - CAF
 39. Israel                247.881 - UEFA
 40. Chile                 240.498 - CONMEBOL
 41. Morocco               227.143 - CAF
 42. Tunisia               224.593 - CAF
 43. Slovakia              224.299 - UEFA
 44. Iran                  220.043 - AFC
 45. Ghana                 216.304 - CAF
 46. Scotland              209.886 - UEFA
 47. Finland               207.639 - UEFA
 48. Honduras              203.484 - CONCACAF
 49. South_Korea           198.220 - AFC
 50. Peru                  184.984 - CONMEBOL
 51. Costa_Rica            184.567 - CONCACAF
 52. Angola                168.600 - CAF
 53. Austria               163.414 - UEFA
 54. Venezuela             160.048 - CONMEBOL
 55. Slovenia              159.298 - UEFA
 56. Mali                  157.433 - CAF
 57. Guinea                154.750 - CAF
 58. Wales                 145.245 - UEFA
 59. Belarus               142.110 - UEFA
 60. South_Africa          139.211 - CAF
 61. Canada                129.366 - CONCACAF
 62. Bosnia-Herzegovina    129.122 - UEFA
 63. Zambia                128.482 - CAF
 64. Hungary               128.457 - UEFA
 65. Bolivia               126.436 - CONMEBOL
 66. Jamaica               122.819 - CONCACAF
 67. Saudi_Arabia          121.711 - AFC
 68. China                 121.011 - AFC
 69. Togo                  120.480 - CAF
 70. Macedonia             119.596 - UEFA
 71. Zimbabwe              117.454 - CAF
 72. Democratic_Rep_Congo  108.575 - CAF
 73. Guatemala             106.349 - CONCACAF
 74. Northern_Ireland      103.996 - UEFA
 75. Libya                  92.345 - CAF
 76. Iraq                   91.915 - AFC
 77. Oman                   90.301 - AFC
 78. Albania                89.782 - UEFA
 79. Algeria                89.046 - CAF
 80. Iceland                88.967 - UEFA
 81. Cuba                   86.611 - CONCACAF
 82. Trinidad_&_Tobago      85.805 - CONCACAF
 83. Jordan                 85.143 - AFC
 84. Georgia                85.119 - UEFA
 85. Panama                 83.268 - CONCACAF
 86. Lithuania              82.115 - UEFA
 87. Qatar                  79.422 - AFC
 88. Burkina_Faso           78.665 - CAF
 89. Latvia                 78.112 - UEFA
 90. Uzbekistan             75.016 - AFC
 91. Gabon                  75.011 - CAF
 92. Kuwait                 70.175 - AFC
 93. Cyprus                 68.107 - UEFA
 94. Bahrain                67.613 - AFC
 95. New_Zealand            66.846 - OFC
 96. Moldova                65.829 - UEFA
 97. Estonia                63.149 - UEFA
 98. Kenya                  61.398 - CAF
 99. Gambia                 61.115 - CAF
100. United_Arab_Emirates   60.543 - AFC
101. Congo                  60.297 - CAF
102. North_Korea            59.161 - AFC
103. Uganda                 56.428 - CAF
104. Ethiopia               56.405 - CAF
105. Cape_Verde_Islands     56.268 - CAF
106. Haiti                  56.115 - CONCACAF
107. Malawi                 54.612 - CAF
108. Armenia                54.306 - UEFA
109. Syria                  53.180 - AFC
110. Sierra_Leone           51.781 - CAF
111. Sudan                  51.157 - CAF
112. Botswana               49.840 - CAF
113. Guinea-Bissau          49.701 - CAF
114. El_Salvador            49.396 - CONCACAF
115. Rwanda                 49.284 - CAF
116. Equatorial_Guinea      47.346 - CAF
117. Azerbaijan             46.539 - UEFA
118. Benin                  44.716 - CAF
119. Liberia                43.539 - CAF
120. Chad                   42.856 - CAF
121. Niger                  39.287 - CAF
122. Lebanon                39.010 - AFC
123. Mozambique             38.614 - CAF
124. Guyana                 33.253 - CONCACAF
125. Thailand               32.925 - AFC
126. Burundi                31.304 - CAF
127. Kazakhstan             31.282 - AFC
128. Namibia                29.951 - CAF
129. St._Vincent_&_Gren.    29.307 - CONCACAF
130. Tanzania               28.967 - CAF
131. Turkmenistan           28.898 - AFC
132. Barbados               27.624 - CONCACAF
133. Seychelles             26.592 - CAF
134. Tajikistan             26.592 - AFC
135. Mauritius              26.386 - CAF
136. Swaziland              26.181 - CAF
137. Mauritania             26.176 - CAF
138. Solomon_Islands        24.558 - OFC
139. Eritrea                24.284 - CAF
140. Lesotho                24.071 - CAF
141. Malta                  24.065 - UEFA
142. Madagascar             24.055 - CAF
143. Palestine              22.027 - AFC
144. Central_African_Rep.   20.639 - CAF
145. Grenada                18.363 - CONCACAF
146. Surinam                17.626 - CONCACAF
147. Yemen                  17.545 - AFC
148. Singapore              16.797 - AFC
149. Indonesia              16.517 - AFC
150. St._Kitts-Nevis        16.253 - CONCACAF
151. Faroe_Islands          15.513 - UEFA
152. Kyrgyzstan             15.309 - AFC
153. Fiji                   14.836 - OFC
154. Belize                 14.822 - CONCACAF
155. Tahiti                 14.513 - OFC
156. Andorra                14.336 - UEFA
157. Liechtenstein          13.535 - UEFA
158. St._Lucia              13.469 - CONCACAF
159. Vietnam                12.764 - AFC
160. Myanmar                12.349 - AFC
161. Malaysia               12.258 - AFC
162. Sao_Tome_&_Principe    11.852 - CAF
163. Hong_Kong              11.830 - AFC
164. Vanuatu                11.763 - OFC
165. Nicaragua              11.595 - CONCACAF
166. India                  10.845 - AFC
167. Antigua_&_Barbuda      10.736 - CONCACAF
168. Neth._Antilles         10.215 - CONCACAF
169. Bermuda                 8.948 - CONCACAF
170. New_Caledonia           8.629 - OFC
171. Dominica                6.589 - CONCACAF
172. Somalia                 5.857 - CAF
173. San_Marino              4.568 - UEFA
174. Maldives                4.489 - AFC
175. Bangladesh              3.846 - AFC
176. Luxembourg              3.830 - UEFA
177. Sri_Lanka               3.220 - AFC
178. Papua_New_Guinea        3.160 - OFC
179. Bahamas                 2.827 - CONCACAF
180. Pakistan                2.404 - AFC
181. Dominican_Republic      1.882 - CONCACAF
182. Djibouti                1.784 - CAF
183. Turks_&_Caicos_Isl.     1.750 - CONCACAF
184. Taiwan                  1.687 - AFC
185. Virgin_Islands_(UK)     1.653 - CONCACAF
186. Cayman_Islands          1.565 - CONCACAF
187. Nepal                   1.542 - AFC
188. Laos                    1.536 - AFC
189. Afghanistan             1.223 - AFC
190. Puerto_Rico             1.222 - CONCACAF
191. Brunei                  1.011 - AFC
192. Aruba                   1.000 - CONCACAF
193. Cambodia                0.780 - AFC
194. Anguilla                0.713 - CONCACAF
195. Philippines             0.460 - AFC
196. Macao                   0.394 - AFC
197. Mongolia                0.371 - AFC
198. Bhutan                  0.221 - AFC
199. Tonga                   0.140 - OFC
200. Samoa                   0.075 - OFC
201. Cook_Islands            0.067 - OFC
202. Montserrat              0.040 - CONCACAF
203. Virgin_Islands_(US)     0.036 - CONCACAF
204. Guam                    0.001 - AFC
205. American_Samoa          0.001 - OFC

A huge thanks to Advanced Satellite Consulting Ltd whose site contains a ton of valuable data on international football results.