ot surprisingly, one event in particular has
left its mark on the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking over the past four weeks: the
renowned Gulf Cup has enabled the most effective associations to scale the heights. More
than one third of the total of 37 matches taken into account last months were contested in
Bahrain.
At the top of the ladder there were no changes to record. Brazil still hold sway over France, Germany, Croatia and Argentina. Sweeping in behind them with a vengeance are Sweden after being awarded belated points (17th, up 8) and Tunisia (20th, up 6).
The biggest bang of the month was, however, Kuwait (25th, up 13). Having won the Gulf Cup no fewer than nine times, the Kuwaitis have never been so highly ranked since the establishment of the World Ranking five years ago and, at this rate, will soon be vying with Asia's top contestant, Korea Republic. Neither have the United Arab Emirates ever been so comfortably placed as now thanks to their triumphs in the Gulf Cup (42nd, up 16).
Some other Arab teams have also recorded gigantic leaps. Oman (71st, up 37), Syria (89th, up 13), Lebanon (97th, up 15) and Bahrain (117th, up 20) have all skipped over at least ten rungs.
Who will be the winner of the trophy for the "Biggest Mover of the Year"? The top contestants for this prize at the moment (current number of points x the number of points won during 1998) are Croatia, with France and Argentina hot on their heels.
- The next FIFA/Coca-Cola-World Ranking will be published on 23 December 1998.
[Note: I snipped the table to show only the top 50 teams, it was way too long!!
Check the original
article for the full table, if it's still there that is.]
| RANKING AS OF 18 NOVEMBER 1998 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank: | Team: | Points: Nov 98 |
Rank: Oct 98 |
Change Since Oct 98 |
Rank: Dec 97 |
Change Since Dec 97 |
| 1 | Brazil | 73.59 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | France | 68.98 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| 3 | Germany | 67.07 | 3 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 4 | Croatia | 66.75 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 15 |
| 5 | Argentina | 66.22 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 12 |
| 6 | Czech Republic | 64.37 | 7 | 1 | 3 | -3 |
| 7 | Yugoslavia | 64.34 | 8 | 1 | 20 | 13 |
| 8 | Italy | 64.29 | 6 | -2 | 9 | 1 |
| 9 | Netherlands | 62.41 | 9 | 0 | 22 | 13 |
| 10 | Mexico | 62.27 | 11 | 1 | 5 | -5 |
| 11 | England | 61.70 | 10 | -1 | 4 | -7 |
| 12 | Romania | 59.87 | 12 | 0 | 7 | -5 |
| 13 | Morocco | 59.66 | 13 | 0 | 15 | 2 |
| 14 | Norway | 59.12 | 14 | 0 | 13 | -1 |
| 15 | Spain | 58.37 | 16 | 1 | 11 | -4 |
| 16 | Chile | 57.81 | 15 | -1 | 16 | 0 |
| 17 | Sweden | 56.32 | 25 | 8 | 18 | 1 |
| 18 | Denmark | 55.19 | 18 | 0 | 8 | -10 |
| 18 | Korea Republic | 55.19 | 19 | 1 | 27 | 9 |
| 20 | Tunisia | 54.85 | 26 | 6 | 23 | 3 |
| Rank: | Team: | Points: Nov 98 |
Rank: Oct 98 |
Change Since Oct 98 |
Rank: Dec 97 |
Change Since Dec 97 |
| 21 | Austria | 54.76 | 22 | 1 | 25 | 4 |
| 22 | United States | 54.74 | 17 | -5 | 26 | 4 |
| 23 | Egypt | 54.61 | 20 | -3 | 32 | 9 |
| 24 | Paraguay | 54.57 | 24 | 0 | 29 | 5 |
| 25 | Kuwait | 54.29 | 38 | 13 | 44 | 19 |
| 26 | Zambia | 54.03 | 23 | -3 | 21 | -5 |
| 27 | Saudi Arabia | 52.72 | 30 | 3 | 33 | 6 |
| 28 | South Africa | 52.70 | 28 | 0 | 31 | 3 |
| 29 | Poland | 52.30 | 34 | 5 | 48 | 19 |
| 30 | Japan | 52.14 | 21 | -9 | 14 | -16 |
| 31 | Slovakia | 52.06 | 29 | -2 | 34 | 3 |
| 32 | Colombia | 51.89 | 27 | -5 | 10 | -22 |
| 33 | Jamaica | 51.87 | 32 | -1 | 39 | 6 |
| 34 | Belgium | 51.76 | 31 | -3 | 41 | 7 |
| 35 | Australia | 51.33 | 33 | -2 | 35 | 0 |
| 36 | Scotland | 49.52 | 37 | 1 | 37 | 1 |
| 37 | Russia | 49.28 | 35 | -2 | 12 | -25 |
| 38 | Israel | 49.17 | 36 | -2 | 61 | 23 |
| 39 | Cameroon | 48.35 | 40 | 1 | 53 | 14 |
| 40 | Portugal | 47.96 | 39 | -1 | 30 | -10 |
| Rank: | Team: | Points: Nov 98 |
Rank: Oct 98 |
Change Since Oct 98 |
Rank: Dec 97 |
Change Since Dec 97 |
| 41 | Cote d' Ivoire | 47.11 | 43 | 2 | 52 | 11 |
| 42 | United Arab Emirates | 46.97 | 58 | 16 | 50 | 8 |
| 43 | Ukraine | 46.41 | 42 | -1 | 49 | 6 |
| 44 | Iran | 46.35 | 44 | 0 | 46 | 2 |
| 45 | Hungary | 46.05 | 49 | 4 | 77 | 32 |
| 46 | Bulgaria | 45.65 | 45 | -1 | 36 | -10 |
| 47 | Uruguay | 45.18 | 41 | -6 | 40 | -7 |
| 48 | Ghana | 44.96 | 46 | -2 | 57 | 9 |
| 49 | Trinidad and Tobago | 44.88 | 47 | -2 | 55 | 6 |
| 50 | Angola | 44.59 | 48 | -2 | 58 | 8 |
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