How are the Football World Rankings® calculated?
All Rankings (Clubs, TopScorers and Coaches) are calculated identically, and published weekly. The calculation is set up equally to the ATP World Tennis Rankings, for example, meaning only the match results of the past 52 weeks are taken into account. Each Monday at 12.00 noon CET, all Rankings are updated with the results of the past week, while the results of the corresponding week one year ago lose their value.
World Ranking points are earned in 40 selected top leagues and 10 international club tournaments worldwide.
The match results are weighted when converted to World Ranking Points, because
- not every match is equally important
- not every domestic competition or international cup tournament is equally strong
- not every domestic competition has the same number of matches
- not every FIFA Confederation is equally strong.
The World Ranking points are calculated differently for domestic and international matches. The cumulative total of the domestic and international points determines the total of World Ranking points.
Domestic club matches
International club matches
EXPLANATION
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Match Results
The calculation starts with the regular points that can be earned in a football match: 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss. In case of a penalty shoot-out, the ‘winning’- team earns 2 points while the losing team gets 1 point.
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Importance of Match
|
Multiplier |
| - National competition |
1.0 |
| - National Cup (from 8th finals) |
1.5 |
| - Champions League (UEFA, AFC, CAF) & Copa Libertadores |
| Round-robin |
1.5 |
| Group matches |
2.0 |
| Knock out stage |
2.5 |
| - Europa League & Copa Sudamericana |
| Round-robin |
1.0 |
| Group matches |
1.5 |
| Knock out stage |
2.0 |
| - UEFA Super Cup |
2.5 |
| - Repoca Sudamericana |
2.5 |
| - FIFA Club World Cup |
2.5 |
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Domestic Competition Strength
This multiplier deals with the strength of the domestic competition in relation to other domestic competitions. To determine the strength of the domestic competition we use the yearly Confed Coefficient Rankings. This ranking is based on the performance of clubs from a country in international cup tournaments over the last 5 years. The Confederations apply the ranking to calculate the number of clubs from a country that may participate in international cup tournaments.
To determine the strength of the domestic competition we calculate the multiplier on the basis of the points that a country has earned over the last 5 years. The minimum assigned value is 0.25.
| Example (UEFA 2013) |
| # |
Country |
Points |
Multiplier |
| 1. |
Spain |
88,025 |
1.000 |
| 4. |
Italy |
64,174 |
0.729 |
| 8. |
Russia |
46,332 |
0.526 |
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Match Equalizer
All domestic competitions are synchronized to 38 matchdays within one season, thus ensuring that World Ranking points are calculated on the basis of an equal number of matches per domestic competition.
| Example |
| Country |
#rounds |
Multiplier |
| England |
38 |
1.000 |
| Germany |
34 |
1.118 |
What is the Match Equalizer for my domestic league? Click here
The Match Equalizer does not apply to domestic cup competitions.
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Opponent's Strength
The Confederations Coefficient Rankings are also applied to determine the strength of the opposing team in international cup matches. For this calculation we do not use the ranking points, but the ranking position. The multiplier is calculated using the formula below. For OTS we assign a minimum value of 0.25.
Formula:
Reversed ranking position number*/ Number of countries within confederation
(* No. 1 ranked gets highest number, the last gets lowest number, 1)
Example (UEFA 2013)
| Rank |
Rev. Rank |
Country |
Multiplier |
| 1. |
53 |
Spain |
1,000 |
| 4. |
50 |
Italy |
0,943 |
| 8. |
46 |
Russia |
0,868 |
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Confederation Strength
From ist launch on 5 December 2011 till 9 October 2016, Football World Rankings used FIFA’s confederation strength. Since 10 October 2016, FWR has applied a new formula that takes better account of the differences in strength between the confederations.
| Confederation |
Continent |
Multiplier |
Multiplier |
Multiplier |
| |
|
from 12/5/2011
till 10/10/2016 |
from 11/10/2016
till 19/8/2018 |
as of 20/8/2018* |
| AFC |
Asia |
0.86 |
0.61 |
0,71 |
| CAF |
Africa |
0.85 |
0.66 |
0,68 |
| CONCACAF |
Mid/North America |
0.86 |
0.72 |
0,80 |
| CONMEBOL |
South America |
1.00 |
1.00 |
1,00 |
| UEFA |
Europa |
1.00 |
0.98 |
0,99 |
| OFC |
Oceania |
n.a |
n.a |
n.a. |
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*incl. World Cup Russia 2018 results |
Click here for full explanation
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