Thursday, December 31, 2009

All-Time Highest and Lowest FIFA Rankings in 2009

This list shows the nations that have had their all-time highest or lowest FIFA rankings in the 2009 calendar year. (Nations Currently at their Highest/Lowest Ever Ranks in BOLD)

BEST ALL-TIME FIFA RANKING in 2009

11 - Cameroon (November-December)
13 - Serbia (September)
14 - Australia (September)
15 - Egypt (January)
16 - Cote D'Ivoire (November)
26 - Algeria (December)
27 - Northern Ireland (April-June)
30 - Gabon (July)
45 - Latvia (December)
49 - Burkina Faso (December)
50 - Panama (February)
59 - Benin (December)
65 - Gambia (June)
73 - Montenegro (December)
88 - Granada (July)
92 - Barbados (October)
105 - Antigua and Barbuda (July)
118 - Chad (January)
132 - Nicaragua (February)
155 - Philippines (October)
170 - Mongolia (November)
176 - Comoros (December)



WORST ALL-TIME FIFA RANKING in 2009

33 - Mexico (July)
36 - Romania (October)
38 - Denmark (March)
42 - Sweden (July; November-December)
51 - Colombia (February)
67 - Morocco (November-December)
91 - Peru (September)
96 - Zambia (October)
108 - China (July)
118 - Congo DR (September)
124 - United Arab Emirates (August)
131 - Zimbabwe (October)
154 - Malta (February)
160 - Liberia (October)
180 - Chinese Taipei (April)
183 - Mauritius (August)
191 - St. Lucia (July)
193 - British Virgin Islands (April-October)
193 - Tonga (September)
194 - Guinea-Bissau (December)
195 - Tahiti (November)
197 - Macau (January-March)
198 - Dominica (July)
202 - Andorra (October-December)
202 - Central African Republic (July)
202 - Cook Islands (April)
203 - Papua New Guinea (July-December)
203 - San Marino (July-December)

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Videos: TB11's Favorite Goals of the Decade

These are my top 10 favorite goals of the past decade. Anybody who has come up with a list like this knows that it's difficult to stop at ten, there are so many deserving goals from the past ten years. These goals are not necessarily the 'Best' goals of the decade, but are my most memorable/favorites. Enjoy!

Dwayne DeRosario, not all that impressive until the view at the 56 second mark


Gianfranco Zola, a goal Claudio Ranieri described as "fantasy, magic"


Andres Vasques, ridiculous goal from Swedish Allsvenskan


Robin van Persie, I'm not a fan of the 'big four', but this goal is great


Lucas Matías Licht, a long range bomb in Argentina


Zlatan Ibrahimovic, dribbling through the entire defense


Ronaldinho, Amazing control and overhead kick


Landon Donovan, Charlie Davies and Mandon combine in the Confed Cup Final



CAUTION: LOUD VOLUME
Zinedine Zidane, Great Volley in the European Cup Final


Yoann Gourcuff, Remarquable!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

FIFA Confederation Rankings: December 2009

I came up with these confederation rankings by averaging the Dec 09 FIFA rank of the top 10 nations in each confederation. The high nation is the 1st ranked team in each confederation and the low team is the 10th ranked nation.

7.0 - Europe
High: Spain (1)
Low: Greece (13)

32.4 - South America
High: Brazil (2)
Low: Peru (68)

33.0 - Africa
High: Cameroon (11)
Low: Tunisia (53)

56.9 - CONCACAF
High: USA (14)
Low: Haiti (90)

63.0 - Asia
High: Australia (21)
Low: Korea DPR (86)

163.9 - Oceania
High: New Zealand (82)
Low: American Samoa and Papua New Guinea (203)

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays from The Best Eleven!

Here is a top ten goals of 2009 video...



via [Unprofessional Foul and Never Captain Nicky Butt]

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

All-Time Oldest Premier League Goal Scorers


Last week I posted the All-time Youngest Premiership goal scorers, so I thought I'd give the old guys a post this week. These are the players who at the time of their first goal scored in a season, were at least 36 years old.

Teddy Sheringham became the all-time oldest EPL goal scorer when he hit the net in a 2-1 defeat to Portsmouth at the age of 40 years and 266 days.






1992/93

36 / 339 - Kevin Moran (Blackburn Rovers)
36 / 182 - Viv Anderson (Sheffield Wednesday)
36 / 118 - Bryan Robson (Manchester United)
36 / 60 - Gordon Strachan (Leeds United)
36 / 54 - Ray Wilkins (QPR)

1993/94

37 / 114 - Kevin Moran (Blackburn Rovers)
36 / 338 - Ray Wilkins (QPR)
36 / 221 - Gordon Strachan (Leeds United)
36 / 316 - Bryan Robson (Manchester United)
36 / 167 - Mal Donaghy (Chelsea)
36 / 150 - Glenn Hoddle (Chelsea)
36 / 136 - John Wark (Ipswich Town)

1994/95

37 / 177 - John Wark (Ipswich Town)

1995/96

37 / 12 - Mick Harford (MK Dons)
36 / 135 - Paul McGrath (Aston Villa)

1996/97

38 / 34 - Mick Harford (MK Dons)
36 / 56 - Peter Beardsley (Newcastle United)

1997/98

36 / 252 - Peter Beardsley (Bolton Wanderers)

1998/99

36 / 225 - Mark Bright (Charlton Athletic)

1999/00

37 / 138 - Richard Gough (Everton)
36 / 318 - John Dreyer (Bradford City)
36 / 152 - Mark Hughes (Everton)
36 / 53 - Lee Dixon (Arsenal)

2000/01

38 / 215 - Stuart Pearce (West Ham United)
36 / 343 - Nigel Winterburn (West Ham United)
36 / 288 - Lee Dixon (Arsenal)
36 / 127 - Gary McAllister (Liverpool)
36 / 91 - Stuart McCall (Bradford City)

2001/02

38 / 149 - Mark Hughes (Blackburn Rovers)
37 / 336 - Peter Schmeichel (Aston Villa)
36 / 120 - Gudni Bergsson (Bolton Wanderers)
36 / 39 - Teddy Sheringham (Tottenham Hotspur)

2002/03

37 / 19 - Teddy Sheringham (Tottehnam Hotspur)
36 / 290 - Gianfranco Zola (Chelsea)
36 / 144 - Les Ferdinand (West Ham United)

2003/04

38 / 43 - Teddy Sheringham (Portsmouth)
37 / 135 - Les Ferdinand (Leicester City)
36 / 123 - Paul Ince (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
36 / 84 - Gustavo Poyet (Tottenham Hotspur)
36 / 60 - Youri Djorkaeff (Bolton Wanderers)

2004/05

37 / 268 - Les Ferdinand (Bolton Wanderers)
36 / 263 - Ferando Hierro (Bolton Wanderers)
36 / 195 - Greame Le Saux (Southampton)
36 / 50 - Craig Short (Blackburn Rovers)

2005/06

39 / 350 - Teddy Sheringham (West Ham United)
36 / 332 - Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal)
36 / 184 - Gary Speed (Bolton Wanderers)
36 / 7 - Kevin Campbell (West Bromwich Albion)

2006/07

40 / 268 - Teddy Sheringham (West Ham United)
37 / 247 - Gary Speed (Bolton Wanderers)
36 / 87 - Tugay (Blackburm Rovers)

2007/08

37 / 351 - Gary Speed (Bolton Wanderers)
37 / 99 - Tugay (Blackburn Rovers)
36 / 21 - Dwight Yorke (Sunderland)

2008/09

38 / 98 - Tugay (Blackburn Rovers)

2009/10

38 / 67 - Graham Alexander (Burnley)
36 / 63 - Kevin Phillips (Birmingham City)

- Ryan Giggs was 35 / 364 when he scored his 100th Premier League Goal against Portsmouth in November -


Stats from Statbunker

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Videos: 'High Quality' Own Goals in the Past Month

The own goals have been flying in the net in the past month. These videos are the pick of the bunch, starting off with one of the most ridiculous goalkeeping errors I've ever seen and ending with 3 'quality' own goals in the same game.


Jurgen Sierens OG - Anderlecht v Roeselare (Belgium)


Moises Moura Pinheiro OG - Braga v Leixoes (Portugal)


Stefano Lucchini OG - Sampdoria v Livorno (Italy)


Omar Zarif OG - Chacarita Juniors v Newells Old Boys (Argentina)


3 OG's - Borussia M'Gladbach v Hannover 96

Thursday, December 17, 2009

World Soccer Average Attendance List

This is a ranked list of all the world soccer leagues (that I could find fairly recent numbers for) whose average game attendance was at least 5,000 per game.


41,914 - German Bundesliga
35,599 - English Premier League
29,124 - Spain La Liga
25,379 - Mexico Primera Division
23,180 - Italy Serie A
21,050 - France Ligue 1
20,886 - Argentina Primera Division
20,195 - England Football League Championship
19,827 - Dutch Eredivisie
19,278 - Japan J-League
17,601 - Brazil Campeonato Serie A
16,482 - China Super League
16,460 - Major League Soccer
15,550 - Germany 2.Bundesliga
14,915 - Scottish Premier League
14,058 - Turkey Super Lig
13,334 - Russian Premier League
13,242 - South Korea K-League
12,966 - Australia A-League
11.369 - Belgium Jupiler League
10,917 - Switzerland Super League
10,438 - Norway Premier League
10,390 - Portuguese Liga
10,326 - Vietnam V-League
10,258 - Sweden Allsvenskan
9,552 - Colombia Copa Mustang
9,338 - Austrian Bundesliga
9,216 - Iran Premier League
9,052 - Ukrainian Premier League
8,814 - Denmark Superliga
8,599 - France Ligue 2
8,112 - Spain Segunda Division
8,324 - England Football League One
7,622 - Greece Super League
7,526 - South Africa Premier Soccer League
7,336 - Uzbekistan League
7,329 - Poland Orange Ekstraklasa
7,219 - Brazil Campeonato Serie B
7,072 - Japan J-League 2
6,147 - Chile Primera Division
6,044 - Romania Divizia A
6,026 - Italy Serie B
5,453 - Germany Regionalliga Nord
5,305 - Israeli Premier League
5,147 - Czech Premier League



A majority of these numbers were found at EFS (European Football Statistics)

I'm still looking for a decent source for African and Asian attendance figures. If anybody knows of a good/reliable source for that info please let me know. I would imagine places like Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, etc. might make the list, but I haven't been able to find attendance info for those leagues.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

All-Time Youngest Premier League Goal Scorers


These are the youngest goal scorers in the history of the English Premier League (since 1992/93). All of these players were 17 years or younger at the time of their goals.

James Vaughan holds the youngest EPL goal record at 16 years and 271 days after netting for Everton against Crystal Palace on 10 April 2005.









Years/Days

1992/93

17 / 161 - Andy Turner (Tottenham Hotspur)

1993/94
NONE

1994/95
NONE

1995/96
17 / 181 - Lee Hodges (West Ham United)

1996/97
17 / 143 - Michael Owen (Liverpool)

1997/98
17 / 238 - Michael Owen (Liverpool)
17 / 343 - Danny Cadamarteri (Everton)
17 / 360 - Michael Ball (Everton)

1998/99
17 / 342 - Mikael Forssell (Chelsea)

1999/00
NONE

2000/01
NONE

2001/02
17 / 77 - Darren Bent (Ipswich Town)

2002/03
16 / 356 - James Milner (Leeds United)
16 / 360 - Wayne Rooney (Everton)

2003/04
17 / 306 - Wayne Rooney (Everton)
17 / 360 - James Milner (Leeds United)

2004/05
16 / 271 - James Vaughan (Everton)
17 / 113 - Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)

2005/06
NONE

2006/07
NONE

2007/08
NONE

2008/09
17 / 226 - Federico Macheda (Manchester United)
17 / 355 - Danny Wellbeck (Manchester United)

2009/10
NONE....(as of 12/16/09)


Stats from Statbunker
Pic from BBC Sport

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

FIFA Club World Cup Result History

2000
1st: Corinthians (Brazil)
2nd: Vasco da Gama (Brazil)
3rd: Necaxa (Mexico)

Other Participants:
Manchester United (England), Al Nassr (Saudi Arabia), South Melbourne (Australia), Raja Casablanca (Morocco), Real Madrid (Spain)

2005
1st: São Paulo (Brazil)
2nd: Liverpool (England)
3rd: Deportivo Saprissa (Costa Rica)

Other Participants:
Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia), Sydney FC (Australia), Al-Ahly (Egypt)

2006
1st: Internacional (Brazil)
2nd: Barcelona (Spain)
3rd: Al-Ahly (Egypt)

Other Participants:
Chonbuk Hyundai Motors FC (South Korea), CF America (Mexico), Auckland City FC (New Zealand)

2007
1st: AC Milan (Italy)
2nd: Boca Juniors (Argentina)
3rd: Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan)

Other Participants:
Pachuca CF (Mexico), Waitakere United (New Zealand), Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia), Sepahan (Iran)

2008
1st: Manchester United (England)
2nd: LDU de Quito (Ecuador)
3rd: Gamba Osaka (Japan)

Other Participants:
Pachuca CF (Mexico), Waitakere United (New Zealand), Al-Ahly (Egypt), Adelaide United (Australia)

2009
Participants:
Barcelona (Spain)
Estudiantes (Argentina)
Atlante (Mexico)
Pohang Steelers (South Korea)
TP Mazembe (DR Congo)
Al-Ahli (UAE)
Auckland City (New Zealand)

Winners By Confederation
CONMEBOL - 2000, 2005, 2006
UEFA - 2007, 2008

Runner-Up By Confederation
CONMEBOL - 2000, 2007, 2008
UEFA - 2005, 2006

Third Place By Confederation
CONCACAF - 2000, 2005
CAF - 2006
AFC - 2007, 2008

Multiple Appearances
3 - Al-Ahly (Egpyt) 2005, 2006, 2008
2 - Manchester United (England) 2000, 2008
2 - CF Pachuca (Mexico) 2007, 2008
2 - Waitakere United (New Zealand) 2007, 2008

Monday, December 14, 2009

Europe's Youngest Goal Scorers - Fall/Winter 2009

This is a list of teenage players who have scored a goal this season in their respective European leagues. (as of December 14, 2009)

English Premier League

18 - Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal)
19 - Dan Gosling (Everton)
19 - Junior Stanislas (West Ham United)

English Championship

17 - Chris Wood (West Bromwich Albion)
18 - Nile Ranger (Newcastle United)
18 - Nathaniel Clyne (Crystal Palace)
18 - Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (Blackpool)
18 - Victor Moses (Crystal Palace)
19 - Henry Lansbury (Watford)
19 - Jacob Butterfield (Barnsley)
19 - Martin Waghorn (Leicester City)
19 - Jake Livermore (Derby County)
19 - Jack Colback (Ipswich Town)

Scottish Premier League

19 - Alexander MacDonald (Falkirk)

German Bundesliga

18 - Joel Matip (Schalke 04)
18 - Andre Schurrle (Mainz)
19 - Franco Zuculini (TSG Hoffenheim)
19 - Christoph Moritz (Schalke 04)
19 - Tunay Torun (Hamburg)
19 - Toni Kroos (Bayer Leverkusen)
19 - Burak Kaplan (Bayer Leverkusen)
19 - Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)

Spain La Liga

16 - Iker Muniain (Athletic Bilbao)
19 - Bojan Krkic (Barcelona)
19 - Macedo Rocha Michel (Almeria)
19 - Omar Hernandez (Malaga)

Italy Serie A

19 - Mario Balotelli (Inter)
19 - Abel Hernandez (Palermo)
19 - Alberto Paloschi (Parma)
19 - Stevan Jovetic (Fiorentina)
19 - Alexandre Pato (AC Milan)

France Ligue 1

18 - Yannis Taffer (Lyon)
19 - Sebastien Corchia (Le Mans)
19 - Miralem Pjanic (Lyon)
19 - Emmanuel Riviere (AS Saint Etienne)
19 - Younes Belhanda (Montpellier HSC)
19 - Moussa Sissoko (Toulouse)



Stats compiled from StatBunker

Friday, December 11, 2009

Interactive Map: Everton Player Birthplaces


These maps show the birthplaces of all the players on the Senior Squad of Everton FC. Click the placemark icons for the player names and their birthplaces. For more navigation options click the view Everton Player Birthplace in a larger map links.



View Everton Player Birthplace Map in a larger map




View Everton Player Birthplace Map in a larger map

Thursday, December 10, 2009

2010 World Cup Nations - WC Results since 1970

This table shows the results from the last 10 World Cups for the nations that have qualified for South Africa 2010. (Table Modified from this Wikipedia Page)

Team 1970
Mexico
(16)
1974
West Germany
(16)
1978
Argentina
(16)
1982
Spain
(24)
1986
Mexico
(24)
1990
Italy
(24)
1994
United States
(24)
1998
France
(32)
2002
South Korea
Japan
(32)
2006
Germany
(32)
Algeria R1
13th
R1
22nd
Argentina QF
8th
1st R2
11th
1st 2nd R2
10th
QF
6th
R1
18th
QF
6th
Australia R1
14th
R2
16th
Brazil 1st 4th 3rd R2
5th
QF
5th
R2
9th
1st 2nd 1st QF
5th
Cameroon R1
17th
QF
7th
R1
22nd
R1
25th
R1
20th
Chile R1
11th
R1
22nd

R2
16th
Côte d'Ivoire

R1
19th
Denmark R2
9th
QF
8th
R2
10th
England QF
8th
R2
6th
QF
8th
4th R2
9th
QF
6th
QF
7th
France R1
12th
4th 3rd 1st R1
28th
2nd
Germany 3rd 1st QF
6th
2nd 2nd 1st QF
5th
QF
7th
2nd 3rd
Ghana
R2
13th
Greece R1
24th
Honduras
R1
18th
Italy 2nd R1
10th
4th 1st R2
12th
3rd 2nd QF
5th
R2
15th
1st
Japan R1
31st
R2
9th
R1
T-28th
Korea DPR



Korea Republic R1
20th
R1
22nd
R1
20th
R1
30th
4th R1
17th
Mexico QF
6th
R1
16th
QF
6th

R2
13th
R2
13th
R2
11th
R2
15th
Netherlands 2nd 2nd R2
15th
QF
7th
4th R2
11th
New Zealand R1
23rd
Nigeria R2
9th
R2
12th
R1
27th
Paraguay R2
13th
R2
14th
R2
16th
R1
18th
Portugal R1
17th
R1
21st
4th
Serbia [1]
QF
7th
R1
16th
QF
5th

R2
10th
R1
32nd
Slovakia [2]
R1
15th
R1
19th
QF
6th
Slovenia

R1
30th
South Africa





R1
24th
R1
17th
Spain R1
10th
R2
12th
QF
7th
R2
10th
QF
8th
R1
17th
QF
5th
R2
9th
Switzerland R2
15th
R2
10th
United States R1
23rd
R2
14th
R1
32nd
QF
8th
R1
T-25th
Uruguay 4th R1
12th
R2
16th
R2
16th
R1
26th



[1] as Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro
[2] as Czechoslovakia

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Videos: Soccer in the Snow

In honor of the fact that I got my Subaru Outback stuck in my driveway three times this morning (and another couple of feet of snow should be here by tomorrow), I thought I'd post some video of some snowy games from the last couple of years.

I bet the Brazilians that play for Shakhtar Donetsk really enjoyed that game....(and they say Brazilians don't like to play in England because of the weather)

Dynamo Kyiv v Shakhtar Donetsk (2007, in Kiev, Ukraine)


Estonia v Canada (2008, in Talinn, Estonia))


Poland v Slovakia (2009, in Chorzów, Poland)

Monday, December 7, 2009

Population of World Cup 2010 Nations


Image from ByteLevel Research

These are the approximate/estimated populations of all the 2010 World Cup nations (in millions)

308 - United States
192 - Brazil
155 - Nigeria
128 - Japan
111 - Mexico
82 - Germany
65 - France
60 - Italy
52 - England
49 - South Africa
48 - Korea Republic
46 - Spain
40 - Argentina
35 - Algeria
24 - Ghana
24 - Korea DPR
22 - Australia
21 - Côte d'Ivoire
20 - Cameroon
17 - Chile
17 - Netherlands
11 - Greece
11 - Portugal
8 - Honduras
8 - Switzerland
7 - Serbia
6 - Denmark
6 - Paraguay
5 - Slovakia
4 - New Zealand
3 - Uruguay
2 - Slovenia


TOTAL POPULATION BY GROUPS (in millions)

228 - GROUP A
254 - GROUP B
397 - GROUP C
135 - GROUP D
171 - GROUP E
75 - GROUP F
248 - GROUP G
79 - GROUP H


INTERESTING POPULATION FACTS

Most Populated Nation will play the Least Populated Nation
USA (308m) v Slovenia (2m)

The Only Game with Combined Population of less than 10 million
New Zealand (4m) v Slovakia (5m)

Only Two Games with two nations of 50 million or more
USA v England
Mexico v France

GROUP A (RSA, MEX, FRA, URU) and GROUP B (ARG, NIG, KOR, GRE) are the only two groups with 3 nations that have a population of 40 million or more

GROUP F (ITA, PAR, NZL, SVK) is the only group with 3 nations with a population of less than 10 million

Amazingly, the approximate difference in population between first round opponents Honduras and Switzerland is only about 70,000 people. Honduras (7,810,848) - Switzerland (7,739,100)

Video: Dutch 'Total Football' World Cup 1974

Thoroughly entertaining 'total football' highlights from The Netherlands first game vs. Uruguay at the 1974 World Cup in West Germany.

Friday, December 4, 2009

FIFA World Cup Draw - Average Group Rankings

Here are all of the Groups from the 2010 World Cup with November FIFA rankings and group average rankings. The toughest group by average rankings is Group H (Spain, Honduras, Chile, Switzerland) and the easiest group is Group F (Italy, Paraguay, Slovakia, New Zealand).

GROUP A (31.75)
South Africa (86)
Mexico (15)
Uruguay (19)
France (7)

GROUP B (23.50)
Argentina (8)
Nigeria (22)
Korea Republic (52)
Greece (12)

GROUP C (21.00)
England (9)
USA (14)
Algeria (28)
Slovenia (33)

GROUP D (21.00)
Germany (6)
Australia (21)
Ghana (37)
Serbia (20)

GROUP E (20.75)
Netherlands (3)
Japan (43)
Cameroon (11)
Denmark (26)

GROUP F (36.25)
Italy (4)
Paraguay (30)
New Zealand (77)
Slovakia (34)

GROUP G (26.50)
Brazil (1)
Korea DPR (84)
Cote d'Ivoire (16)
Portugal (5)

GROUP H (18.50)
Spain (1)
Honduras (38)
Chile (17)
Switzerland (18)

Thursday, December 3, 2009

FIFA World Cup Draw History since USA 1994



This list shows the Groups from the last four World Cups along with the point results and each nation's FIFA ranking from when the World Cup Draw took place.

Format:
Group _ (Average Group Ranking)
Pts - Nation (FIFA Ranking)

Lowest Ranked Group winners in RED


USA 1994

GROUP A (17.25)
6 - Romania (12)
4 - Switzerland (9)
4 - USA (27)
3 - Colombia (21)

GROUP B (13.25)
7 - Brazil (4)
5 - Sweden (11)
3 - Russia (14)
1 - Cameroon (24)

GROUP C (27.00)
7 - Germany (3)
5 - Spain (7)
2 - South Korea (39)
1 - Bolivia (59)

GROUP D (20.00)
6 - Nigeria (16)
6 - Bulgaria (23)
6 - Argentina (9)
0 - Greece (32)

GROUP E (9.00)
4 - Mexico (17)
4 - Republic of Ireland (13)
4 - Italy (1)
4 - Norway (5)

GROUP F (23.00)
6 - Netherlands (2)
6 - Saudi Arabia (38)
6 - Belgium (22)
0 - Morocco (30)


FRANCE 1998

GROUP A (16.75)
6 - Brazil (1)
5 - Norway (14)
4 - Morocco (16)
1 - Scotland (36)

GROUP B (26.00)
7 - Italy (10)
3 - Chile (17)
2 - Austria (26)
2 - Cameroon (51)

GROUP C (21.00)
9 - France (7)
4 - Denmark (8)
2 - South Africa (35)
1 - Saudi Arabia (34)

GROUP D (32.00)
6 - Nigeria (71)
5 - Paraguay (30)
4 - Spain (3)
1 - Bulgaria (24)

GROUP E (23.75)
5 - Netherlands (12)
5 - Mexico (11)
3 - Korea Republic (31)
1 - Belgium (41)

GROUP F (25.75)
7 - Germany (2)
7 - Yugoslavia (22)
3 - Iran (50)
0 - United States (29)

GROUP G (10.75)
7 - Romania (5)
6 - England (6)
3 - Colombia (9)
1 - Tunisia (23)

GROUP H (24.25)
9 - Argentina (19)
6 - Croatia (21)
3 - Jamaica (39)
0 - Japan (18)


JAPAN/SOUTH KOREA 2002

GROUP A (27.25)
7 - Denmark (17)
5 - Senegal (67)
2 - Uruguay (24)
1 - France (1)

GROUP B (20.50)
9 - Spain (7)
4 - Paraguay (14)
4 - South Africa (34)
0 - Slovenia (27)

GROUP C (28.00)
9 - Brazil (3)
4 - Turkey (23)
4 - Costa Rica (31)
0 - China (55)

GROUP D (25.25)
7 - South Korea (43)
4 - USA (21)
3 - Portugal (4)
3 - Poland (33)

GROUP E (24.25)
7 - Germany (11)
5 - Republic of Ireland (18)
4 - Cameroon (38)
0 - Saudi Arabia (30)

GROUP F (17.00)
5 - Sweden (16)
5 - England (10)
4 - Argentina (2)
1 - Nigeria (40)

GROUP G (17.75)
7 - Mexico (9)
4 - Italy (6)
3 - Croatia (19)
3 - Ecuador (37)

GROUP H (26.25)
7 - Japan (35)
5 - Belgium (20)
3 - Russia (22)
1 - Tunisia (28)


GERMANY 2006

GROUP A (24.25)
9 - Germany (16)
6 - Ecuador (37)
3 - Poland (23)
0 - Costa Rica (21)

GROUP B (26.00)
7 - England (9)
5 - Sweden (14)
3 - Paraguay (30)
1 - Trinidad and Tobago (51)

GROUP C (23.75)
7 - Argentina (4)
7 - Netherlands (3)
3 - Cote d"Ivoire (41)
0 - Serbia and Montenegro (47)

GROUP D (24.50)
9 - Portugal (10)
4 - Mexico (7)
2 - Angola (62)
1 - Iran (19)

GROUP E (18.00)
7 - Italy (12)
6 - Ghana (50)
3 - Czech Republic (2)
1 - USA (8)

GROUP F (21.25)
9 - Brazil (1)
4 - Australia (49)
2 - Croatia (20)
1 - Japan (15)

GROUP G (31.50)
7 - Switzerland (36)
5 - France (5)
4 - South Korea (29)
0 - Togo (56)

GROUP H (26.50)
9 - Spain (6)
6 - Ukraine (40)
1 - Tunisia (28)
1 - Saudi Arabia (32)


2010 DRAW

Pot 1
Spain (1) -- Brazil (2) -- Netherlands (3) -- Italy (4) -- Germany (6) -- Argentina (8) -- England (9) -- South Africa (86)

Pot 2
USA (14) -- Mexico (15) -- Australia (21) -- Honduras (38) -- Japan (43) -- South Korea (52) -- New Zealand (77) -- North Korea (84)

Pot 3
Cameroon (11) -- Cote d'Ivoire (16) -- Chile (17) -- Uruguay (19) -- Nigeria (22) -- Algeria (28) -- Paraguay (30) -- Ghana (37)

Pot 4
Portugal (5) -- France (7) -- Greece (12) -- Switzerland (18) -- Serbia (20) -- Denmark (26) -- Slovenia (33) -- Slovakia (34)





Toughest Groups by Average FIFA Rank

1994
9.00 -- GROUP E -- Italy (1), Norway (5), Ireland (13), Mexico (17)

1998
10.75 -- GROUP G -- Romania (5), England (6), Colombia (9), Tunisia (23)

2002
17.00 -- GROUP F -- Argentina (2), England (10), Sweden (16), Nigeria (40)

2006
18.00 -- GROUP E -- Czech Republic (2), USA (8), Italy (12), Ghana (50)


Easiest Groups by Average FIFA Ranking

1994
27.00 -- GROUP C -- Germany (3), Spain (7), South Korea (39), Bolivia (59)

1998
32.00 -- GROUP D -- Spain (3), Bulgaria (24), Paraguay (30), Nigeria (71)

2002
28.00 -- GROUP C -- Brazil (3), Turkey (23), Costa Rica (31), China (55)

2006
31.50 -- GROUP G -- France (5), South Korea (29), Switzerland (36), Togo (56)

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Apologies....

I must apologize for the sporadic posts lately. While I make a strong attempt to post every weekday, due to a number of unforseen circumstances, a general lack of time, and the holidays in recent weeks, I have been missing quite a few days. Please bear with me while things get back to normal and I have the time to update daily again. Thanks for your patience and for reading The Best Eleven.

Steve

Monday, November 30, 2009

FIFA Confederation Ranking Comparison (Nov 2009)

This is a rank list using the average FIFA rankings of the top 10 teams from each confederation. The best rank is the top team from each confederation and the worst rank is the 10th best team in each region.


Avg. Rank Best Rank Worst Rank
November 2009
UEFA
7.0
1 (Spain)
13 (Russia)
CONMEBOL
32.8
2 (Brazil)
70 (Peru)
CAF
34.0
11 (Cameroon)
53 (Tunisia)
CONCACAF55.914 (USA)
85 (Haiti)
AFC63.5
21 (Australia)
87 (Qatar)
OFC163.4
77 (New Zealand)
203 (American Samoa)

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Map: Non-UK/Irish European Players in the Premiership (09/10)





Albania (1)
Lorik Cana - Sunderland

Austria (2)
Stefan Maierhofer – Wolverhampton Wanderers
Paul Scharner – Wigan Athletic

Belgium (5)
Ritchie De Laet – Manchester United
Marouane Fellaini – Everton
Vincent Kompany – Manchester City
Anthony Vanden Borre – Portsmouth
Thomas Vermaelen - Arsenal

Bosnia and Herzegovina (1)
Asmir Begović - Portsmouth F.C

Bulgaria (4)
Dimitar Berbatov - Manchester United
Valeri Bojinov - Manchester City
Martin Petrov - Manchester City
Stiliyan Petrov - Aston Villa

Croatia (6)
Vedran Ćorluka – Tottenham Hotspur
Niko Kranjčar – Tottenham Hotspur
Luka Modrić – Tottenham Hotspur
Eduardo da Silva - Arsenal
Nikola Kalinić – Blackburn Rovers
Ivan Klasnić – Bolton Wanderers

Czech Republic (3)
Petr Čech – Chelsea
Radoslav Kováč – West Ham United
Tomáš Rosický - Arsenal

Denmark (4)
Daniel Agger – Liverpool
Nicklas Bendtner – Arsenal
Lars Jacobsen – Blackburn Rovers
Thomas Sørensen – Stoke City

Finland (3)
Jussi Jääskeläinen – Bolton Wanderers
Toni Kallio – Fulham
Teemu Tainio - Sunderland

France (32)
Nicolas Anelka - Chelsea
Sebastien Bassong - Tottenham Hotspur
Pascal Chimbonda - Blackburn Rovers
Gaël Clichy – Arsenal
Abou Diaby - Arsenal
Mohamed Diamé – Wigan Athletic
Sylvain Distin - Everton
Patrice Evra - Manchester United
Juilen Faubert - West Ham United
William Gallas - Arsenal
Gael Givet - Blackburn Rovers
Younes Kaboul - Portsmouth
Olivier Kapo - Wigan Athletic
Steed Malbranque - Sunderland
Florent Malouda - Chelsea
Bernard Mendy - Hull City
Steven Mouyokolo - Hull City
Arnold Mvuemba - Portsmouth
Samir Nasri - Arsenal
David N'Gog - Liverpool
Charles N'Zogbia - Wigan Athletic
Steven N'Zonzi - Blackburn Rovers
Gabriel Obertan - Manchester United
Vincent Péricard – Stoke City
Frédéric Piquionne – Portsmouth
Damien Plessis - Liverpool
Sébastien Puygrenier - Bolton Wanderers
Bacary Sagna - Arsenal
Louis Saha - Everton
Mikaël Silvestre - Arsenal
Armand Traoré - Arsenal
Grégory Vignal - Birmingham City

Germany (4)
Michael Ballack - Chelsea
Kevin-Prince Boateng - Portsmouth
Robert Huth - Stoke City
Savio Nsereko - West Ham United

Greece (2)
Angelos Basinas - Portsmouth
Sotirios Krygiakos - Liverpool

Hungary (3)
Márton Fülöp - Sunderland
Zoltán Gera - Fulham
Péter Halmosi - Hull City

Iceland (3)
Joey Guðjónsson - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Hermann Hreiðarsson - Portsmouth
Grétar Steinsson - Bolton Wanderers

Israel (3)
Yossi Benayoun - Liverpool
Tal Ben Haim - Portsmouth
Tamir Cohen - Bolton Wanderers

Italy (6)
Fabio Borini - Chelsea
Carlo Cudicini - Tottenham Hotspur
Alessandro Diamanti - West Ham United
Andrea Dossena - Liverpool
Federico Macheda - Manchester United
Vito Mannone - Arsenal

Netherlands (12)
Ryan Babel - Liverpool
George Boateng - Hull City
Jeffrey Bruma - Chelsea
Nigel de Jong - Manchester City
Daniël de Ridder - Wigan Athletic
Dirk Kuyt - Liverpool
Mario Melchiot - Wigan Athletic
Andre Ooijer - Blackburn Rovers
Edwin van der Sar - Manchester United
Robin van Persie - Arsenal
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink – Hull City
Boudewijn Zenden - Sunderland

Norway (6)
John Carew - Aston Villa
Brede Hangeland - Fulham
Christian Kalvenes - Burnley
Erik Nevland - Fulham
Morten Gamst Pedersen - Blackburn Rovers
Bjørn Helge Riise – Fulham

Poland (2)
Łukasz Fabiański - Arsenal
Tomasz Kuszczak - Manchester United

Portugal (8)
Luis Boa Morte - West Ham United
José Bosingwa – Chelsea
Ricardo Carvalho - Chelsea
Deco - Chelsea
Paulo Ferreira - Chelsea
Henrique Hilário – Chelsea
Nani - Manchester United
Ricaro Vaz Te - Bolton Wanderers

Russia (4)
Andrey Arshavin - Arsenal
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov - Everton
Roman Pavlyuchenko - Tottenham
Yuri Zhirkov - Chelsea

Serbia (4)
Branislav Ivanović – Chelsea
Nenad Milijaš - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Zoran Tošić – Manchester United
Nemanja Vidić – Manchester United

Slovakia (3)
Martin Škrtel – Liverpool
Miroslav Stoch - Chelsea
Vladimír Weiss - Manchester City

Spain (11)
Manuel Almunia - Arsenal
Mikel Arteta - Eveton
Daniel Sanchez Ayala - Liverpool
Carlos Cuellar - Aston Villa
Cesc Fabregas - Arsenal
Javier Garrido - Manchester City
Jordi Gomez - Wigan Athletic
Pepe Reina - Liverpool
Albert Riera - Liverpool
Michel Salgado - Blackburn Rovers
Fernando Torres - Liverpool

Sweden (4)
Johan Elmander - Bolton Wanderers
Sebastain Larsson - Birmingham City
Martin Olsson - Blackburn Rovers
Fredrik Stoor - Fulham

Switzerland (3)
Valon Behrami - West Ham United
Philipp Degen - Liverpool
Johan Djourou - Arsenal

Turkey (1)
Tuncay Şanlı - Stoke City

Ukraine (1)
Andriy Voronin - Liverpool


32 - France
11-20 - Netherlands (12), Spain (11)
5-10 - Belgium (5), Croatia (6), Italy (6), Norway (6), Portugal (8)
4 - Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Russia, Serbia, Sweden
3 - Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Switzerland
2 - Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, Slovakia
1 - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Ukraine