April 2012: Canada up seven points and four spots on monthly ranking

Canada gained seven points and moved up four spots on the overall ranking in the most recent FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking published on 11 April 2012. Canada improved to 450 points (up from 443) and 75th overall on the world ranking (up from 79th) while it remained ranked 9th amongst CONCACAF nations.

The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking looks at each country’s international results from the last four years. The ranking takes into account the result, the importance of the match, the strength of the opponent, the regional strength, the time period, and the number of matches per year. Matches played more than a year ago are valued 50% of matches played in the last year; matches played more than two years ago are valued at 30% while matches played more than three years ago are valued at 20%.

In the April 2012 ranking, a March 2008 loss to Estonia was dropped from Canada’s score. In the past year, Canada’s international record is five wins, four draws and two losses.

Only 24 international matches were played in between the March and April rankings, most of which were played at the AFC Challenge Cup (Asia). More than 75 percent of the world’s national “A” teams were inactive as there were no FIFA international dates. Amongst CONCACAF’s top-10 teams, only Costa Rica and Jamaica played in the past month (a 0:0 draw against each other).

Amongst CONCACAF nations, El Salvador made the biggest jump as it gained 36 points and moved up nine spots on the world ranking (up to 49th overall). El Salvador also moved up from fifth to third amongst CONCACAF nations. No new matches were added to El Salvador’s score, but three matches from March 2008 were dropped (including two losses). The April 2012 CONCACAF top-five featured Mexico, USA, El Salvador, Panama and Jamaica. Rounding out the top-10 were Costa Rica, Honduras, Haiti, Canada and Guatemala, with Guatemala slipping into the top-10 ahead of Trinidad and Tobago.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 9 May 2012.

CONCACAF TOP-10

20 1 Mexico 868

29 2 USA 779

49 5 El Salvador 589

52 3 Panama 575

56 4 Jamaica 565

59 6 Costa Rica 557

61 7 Honduras 550

72 8 Haiti 477

75 9 Canada 450

82 10 Guatemala 419