The three exceptions here were England, Serbia and Montenegro, whose populations were obtained via World Bank via google. In order to exclude those countries finishing in the top 25 who are obviously undeserving of it, only the top 60 ranked nations out of a total of in the FIFA list are eligible.
For example, Latvia have a population of only 2. It would be unhelpful in determining who makes the best use of the talent they have to include teams who are deemed completely unsuccessful in the modern game by the FIFA rankings. Working example of a qualifying nation: 30th place Nigeria, points.
Population, Hungary get us going, ranking 25th in the coefficient standings and 32nd in the FIFA version. The nation has a population of 10 million. The European side are second in their World Cup qualifying group, with a good chance of reaching their first finals since Their FIFA ranking is 27, indicating they are more or less punching their weight as expected.
The nation which has brought the world the likes of Petr Cech, Jan Koller and Karel Poborsky are currently third in their group for World Cup qualification.
Honduras place 23rd on the list, with a population of 7. They are currently in the final stages of qualification for the World Cup next year, topping the group after a single game in the Caribbean, Central and North America qualifying region.
Ranked 46th for FIFA and with a population of just 7. Even now they are pushing for a playoff place for next year's World Cup, second in their group behind Italy. Bulgaria have brought us such great and memorable players as Krassimir Balakov, Dimitar Berbatov, Trifon Ivanov and the unforgettable, irrepressible Hristo Stoichkov.
In come one of world football's rising powers on the international stage, with Belgium in 21st place. After several years in the wilderness, the European nation has put together an immense squad with huge potential for the forthcoming World Cup or the European Championships. The Eastern European nation are in third place in their qualifying group—behind Belgium, incidentally—and face an uphill battle to qualify for the World Cup despite their relatively impressive recent qualifying record for a young nation.
They have a national population of just 9. They are currently second in their World Cup qualifying group, with a good chance of claiming at least a playoff place. Euro winners Greece continue to defy the odds and keep themselves awake despite their brand of football, even winning matches sometimes and scoring goals.
They have a population of A run of five European nations is halted by South Americans Paraguay, who come in at 17th. Populated by only 6. Slovakia come in at 16th, significantly higher than their 55th-place FIFA ranking, indicating that though they are not world-beaters, they are performing well considering the numbers available to them; they have a population of 5. They are currently third in their World Cup qualification group, three points off the pace, so still in with a chance of making the finals.
Previous greats include Miroslav Karhan and the late Peter Dubovsky. First introduced in December , the FIFA men's world rankings show the best international soccer teams in the world based on recent match results and tournament performances.
Thanks to their five World Cup titles, the most World Cup wins by any country , the Brazilian men's national team has spent considerable time at the top of the FIFA world rankings. Following their success at the World Cup, the team spent almost seven years at the top of the pile, and a further five years leading the way following victory at the tournament.
However, despite the fact that Brazil is still the all-time top ranking team based on number of points won at World Cups, the country has found success hard to come by in recent tournaments. Following humiliation at the hands of Germany in semi finals on the World Cup, the country was looking to restore national pride in the edition of the tournament.
Going into the World Cup, some of the leading players based on market value in the Brazil team were valued at an excess of million U. In the years since, only Germany and the United States have claimed the top spot, with the former currently occupying first place. Such is the success of the U.
Loading statistic Show source. Download for free You need to log in to download this statistic Register for free Already a member? Log in. Show detailed source information? Register for free Already a member? More information. Supplementary notes. Other statistics on the topic. Professional Sports Record soccer transfers: player transfers by value David Lange.
Despite this, soccer is still very popular in the United States. There is also a strong base of high school and collegiate teams to support both the MLS and the popularity of soccer as a whole.
When many people think about sports in Russia, they immediately think about ice hockey. While ice hockey is certainly popular in Russia, it is nowhere near as popular as soccer is. A large portion of the population prefers watching soccer over any other sport. Although South Africa is geographically pretty far removed from the other countries on this list, soccer is nevertheless the most popular sport here as well. Soccer is also extremely popular in Israel. The popularity of soccer here is due to England, whose control of Mandatory Palestine brought the sport to the region in the early s.
Since then, Mexico has produced a number of highly successful players, and has also seen decent success on the international stage. Japan joins the United States as one of the few countries where soccer is not the most popular sport. While baseball may be the most popular sport in Japan, their professional soccer leagues are still followed by millions of people around the country.
Rounding out this list is Australia, which surprisingly enough is also a country in which soccer is not the most popular sport. Skip to content. Table of Contents show. United States. South Africa.
0コメント