England are better then Brazil

[bibblebub]

http://www.independen...rankings-6266444.html

It must be true because FIFA says so and FIFA is never wrong.

[dave1948]

You are never wrong when helping me with crosswords but I'm afraid your infallibility does not extend to FIFA in its football judgement

[mightyWBA]

The table never lies ;-)

[Arksided]

England are higher ranked than Brazil according to FIFA... we knew that all the time... its such a shame no-one mentioned it to the players.

[Duncer]

The rankings are utter tosh, and I could fill pages explaining why, but I won't. Cue sighs of relief.

About ten years ago an African national side were on tour whilst ranked in the top 65, and they played my dearly beloved Linfield. Even allowing for the inclement Belfast weather, (it wasn't really that bad, but I'm trying to be kind), they got horsed 3-0. I'm sorry, but no International side in the rankings should be getting beaten so comprehensively by a semi-professional side. Their ranking points were garnered from beating minor African sides like Madagascar and their ilk, and they would in no way compare with European sides. This is not a criticism of African sides, there are many very good ones, rather it is a criticism of the ridiculous ranking systems.

As for England being better than Brazil?

[Philtaz]

I agree with Duncer, they're worthless, as are all rankings.

Slightly off-topic I know but the Welsh rugby team actually dropped in the IRB rankings, despite their magnificent showing at the World Cup in New Zealand.

As I said, worthless.

[mightyWBA]

Apparently these rankings are only used to help seed tournaments around the different confederations.
They aren't really worth the paper they are written on in real terms but provide a source of amusement ..England actually went up the rankings when our game against Holland was called off due to the riots in London!

I reckon we aren't even the 5th best side in Europe..Which will be proved next summer.

[Duncer]

For true rankings I tend to go by an obscure system involving major tournament wins, leading me to suspect that Spain might be up there somewhere.