FIFA World Rankings June 2009

Euro 2008 winners Spain top the rankings and already installed as early favorites for the 2010 World Cup with the bookies. The Netherlands are second with Germany in third. England are in 6th after impressive results in World Cup qualifying.

Japan are in 31st position. South Korea are static in 46th position.

The USA are in 14th. Scotland are in 22nd position. The Republic of Ireland remain in 34th position.

Source: www.fifa.com

How the rankings are calculated

Match Result: - Win-Draw-Defeat = 3 points - 1 points – 0 points
Importance of match - 1 (friendly match) to 4 (FIFA World Cup™)
Strength of opponent - Position in world ranking (no. 1 = 2.00, no. 30 = 1.70, no. 118 = 0.82 etc.) Formula: [200 minus Position] / 100
Regional strength - Based on results in last three FIFA World Cups (wins per confederation per match)
Period - Since the change to the FIFA World Ranking procedure which came into effect in August 2006 the rankings will no longer take into account the last eight years of results only the last four years of results.
Last four years, gradual decline in importance of results: 100%- 50% - 30% - 20%
Number of matches considered per year - Average points gained from all matches in last 12 months (minimum: 5 matches)