Alexi Lalas puzzled by USMNT FIFA World Ranking

News

FT Desk

The new FIFA World Rankings have been confirmed following the latest round of international football.

The country to reach the highest new position is Portugal, who have climbed to fifth behind Spain, Argentina, France and England.

Interestingly, Portugal improved their world ranking largely without the input of Cristiano Ronaldo, who sensationally quit the squad after the second match after he was named as a substitute by Jorge Jesus and wasn't given a single minute off the bench versus Norway.

The Seleccao won all four Nations League games over the last couple of weeks, and Ronaldo only appeared in one of those.

As a result of Portugal's climb, Brazil and Morocco dropped down to sixth and seventh, respectively.

Germany, having won just one of their Nations League games under new boss Jurgen Klopp, dropped to 13th.

As for the USMNT, they also won all four of their matches, like Portugal.

Mauricio Pochettino's men defeated Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada, though all of the victories came in international friendlies and not competitive Nations League matches.

They remain 16th in the World Rankings and that hasn't sat well with pundit Alexi Lalas, who posted on X:

"New men's FIFA Rankings. USA doesn't budge from 16th, despite winning all 4 games, playing a bunch of teenagers, and crushing the 10th-ranked team in the world 3-0."

Italy, who failed to qualify for the World Cup, are ahead of the USA in 15th, but they did enjoy a positive Nations League break with two wins, a draw and a loss.

FIFA World Rankings are determined using a points system based on the results of international matches. After every match, a team can gain or lose ranking points depending on whether they win, draw or lose. The number of points gained or lost also depends on how strong FIFA expected the team to be compared with their opponent.

The importance of the match also matters, which is why the USMNT didn't improve their ranking.

Friendly matches have less influence on the rankings, while competitive matches such as World Cup and continental tournament games have a much greater impact. For example, beating a highly ranked team in an important competition can earn a team a significant number of points, while losing to a lower-ranked team can cause them to lose points.