Latest FIFA Women's Rankings: Top International Teams In The World

FIFA women's world rankings is a system used to determine women's national teams' current stability and progression. They are decided by every international game a team has ever played since 1971 and are released four times a year - in March, June, September, and December.

Recently, FIFA released the latest FIFA World Rankings for women, and to no one's surprise, the US women's national team took the highest spot. Read on to find out how other teams like Germany ranked and learn more about FIFA Women's rankings.

History Of FIFA Women's World Rankings (WWR)

The FIFA women's world rankings date back to 16th July 2003, when FIFA first published its list of top women's national teams. However, the data used for placement stems from July 1970, when FIFA organized its first Women's World Cup match in Italy. After a successful contest, FIFA planned another World Cup tournament in 1971. But unlike the previous one, this was unofficial. The contest took place in Mexico, and after a competitive match, Denmark won the finals beating Mexico 3-0.

The triumph of the two Women's World Cup Tournaments saw multiple countries lift the ban on women's soccer, which saw more Women's teams compete at the international level. Therefore, when FIFA introduced Women's world rankings in July 2003 as a follow-on of the male counterparts, they had enough rating points to develop an accurate list. The first rankings had few countries, but today, the list contains 185 Women's national teams.

FIFA Women Ranking Leaders

Since the initialization of FIFA women's rankings, there has been a pattern despite the competitiveness of the women's national teams. For example, Germany and the United States have always dominated the top positions. Adding to the latest rankings, the United States women's national team has led for 14 years. Also, it is one of the women's national teams with the longest reign of seven years on the top spot.

The longest tenure spanned from March 2008 to December 2014. On the other hand, Germany has occupied the top two slots in all the rankings except for six. Only four teams have managed to displace Germany from the top two spots, namely Brazil, Sweden, England, and Norway.

How Are FIFA Women's Rankings Calculated?

The calculation used to come up with FIFA women's rankings involves multiple aspects. First, the organization collects data from 1971 to the recent year the FIFA Women's World Cup tournament occurred. Also, FIFA ensures the ranks are implicitly weighted to accentuate or emphasize recent results. So far, the basic formula is {WWR,new = WWR,old + ( Actual - Predicted )}. The complete formula is:

Raft = Rbef + K (Sact - Sexp)

To effectively apply the formula, you must find the value of Sexp using the following simple computation:

Sexp = 1 / (1 + 10-x/2) where X = (Rbef – Obef +/- H) / c

For the formula to make sense, here is what everything stands for:

• Raft = The team rating after the match
• Rbef = The team rating before the match
• K = 15M, the weighted importance of the match
• Sact = The actual result of the match
• Sexp = The expected result of the match
• H = The "home advantage" correction
• C = A scaling factor
• M = The "Match Importance Factor"
• X = The scaled difference in rating points between the teams
• Obef = The opposing team's rating before the match

During ranking, the mean points for all teams are 1300. However, the top-ranking women's national teams like the US, Germany, and Sweden often gather as many as 2000 points. As you learn the formula, remember that FIFA women's rankings come with pros and cons, as shown below:

Pros

• Help display the state of the Women's FIFA World Cup.
• Highlight the positions of different teams.
• Popularize Women's FIFA World Cup.

Cons

• Some teams avoid hosting the tournament to end up ranking high.

Ranking Schedule - When Are Rankings Published?

Women's international teams' rankings by FIFA occur four times yearly. Usually, the list comes out in March, June, September, and December. However, the latest rankings for 2022 are scheduled for March, June, August, October, and December. It is also vital to remember that FIFA may change the world rankings' schedules to include results in the World Cup years.

Confederation Women's Rankings

FIFA women's rankings involve a lot of moving parts. Each national team on the list plays qualifiers several times a year to win a spot for the FIFA World Cup tournament.

The qualification is often dependent on their position in different Confederation tournaments. So yes, the confederation women's rankings eventually affect or influence FIFA Women's rankings. That said, this section will look deep into the various FIFA Confederations.

CONMEBOL

South American Football Confederation, popularly known as CONMEBOL, is the oldest FIFA continental confederation on the planet, formed in July 1916. CONMEBOL governs South America's football and comprises some of the fiercest women's international teams, such as Brazil, which is often considered one of the top contenders. Based on FIFA rankings, here are the top five CONMEBOL teams:

• Brazil
• Colombia
• Argentina
• Chile
• Paraguay

UEFA

UEFA, or Union of European Football Associations, is a women's soccer governing body in Asia, Israel, and Eurasian transcontinental nations. The association is behind the Women's Euro and UEFA Women's Champions league. Its competitions are used to determine which Women's national teams will compete in the FIFA World Cup, and so far, they have produced top-ranking women's teams like Germany, which has appeared in the top 10 a couple of times. The leading UEFA high-ranking teams based on the FIFA women's world rankings include:

• Germany
• Sweden
• England
• France
• Netherlands

CONCACAF

The Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football or CONCACAF is one of the top FIFA governing bodies. CONCACAF comprises 32 women's national teams, including the USA, which has been winning the FIFA championship for years. So far, here is the list of top-ranking CONCACAF members in order of their appearance in the latest FIFA women's rankings:

• United States
• Canada
• Mexico
• Costa Rica
• Jamaica

CAF

The Confederation of African Football or CAF is the governing body for the Women's Cup of Nations and the Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The association, together with FIFA, controls football in Africa. Even though its members are yet to appear in the top 10 of FIFA rankings, their positions have improved. Currently, some of the highest-ranking Women's national teams on FIFA include:

• Nigeria
• South Africa
• Cameroon
• Ghana
• Ivory Coast

AFC

The final confederation of football is AFC, also known as the Asia Football Confederation. This association has 47 member countries, including North Korea, which has been ranking high despite not playing for a couple of years now. According to FIFA women's rankings, the top teams in the Asia Football confederation are:

• North Korea
• Japan
• Australia
• China
• South Korea

OCF

The OCEANIA FOOTBALL CONFEDERATION currently regulates 10 Women's teams. The highest ranked nation women's team in the OCF is New Zealand followed by Papua New Guinea Women and Fiji women. The OFC Women’s Nations Cup is the biggest tournament that OFC regulates with Papua New Guinea Women being the reigning champion.

• New Zealand
• Papua New Guinea
• Cook Islands
• Fiji
• Tonga
• Samoa
• New Caledonia
• Solomon Islands
• Tahiti
• Vanuatu

How Does FIFA World Ranking Affect The Women's World Cup?

As mentioned earlier, the FIFA women's world ranking shows the progression of women's national teams. The rankings published also come in handy when seeding for FIFA women's World Cup qualification stages and the finals. Remember, this affects the number of points a team earns after an international match.

FAQ On FIFA Women's World Rankings

This read has discussed in-depth FIFA women's world rankings and how the current and previous points help determine the position of teams. It has also shown the pros and cons of the ranking system. Here are additional FAQs to help answer some of your questions.