Japan rises into top 20 of FIFA rankings

I think some posters will hate the new ranking after their recent posts. ;p

some good news for J-sports.

These rankings are as big a joke as FIFA are. Japan should be above England (I'm English if you didn't already know). Japan only get to compare themselves properly with the likes of England once every 4 years. And Japan had a better tournament than England in South Africa. Since then Japan have beaten Argentina and won the Asia Cup beating South Korea and Australia along the way. And yet Japan are still behind England in the latest rankings. I can't help feeling that the old guard (England, Argentina etc) get to stay at a certain level in these rankings on their history alone. Argentina also had a disappointing World Cup and as mentioned above, have lost to Japan since then. Yet they also keep a high ranking.

Greece rose one place to No. 10.

Yaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!! Bravo Greece!!!

NZ only ranked 64th after the last world cup performance?

What a sham this FIFA thing is, NZ should be ranked much higher after not being beaten and taking some highly ranked teams down the the wire in draws during the last FIFA fiasco.

northlondon - FIFA is indeed a joke. But from my understanding, kick-and-giggle friendly matches - such as when Japan beat Argentina - don't attract many points compared to international tournaments like the Asian/World Cups. To be honest, I'd still back England to account for Japan 9 times out of 10 in a competition...as much as it would hurt me to see England win (after the Ashes!).

Well done Samurai and 'Roos. Japan has overtaken the Socceroos for the first time in 6 years - hopefully the green and golds have a few games lined up to wrestle back the ranking as top Asians, later in the year!

I agree ExportExpert - NZ are better than 64. I hope one day you guys join us in Asia, and benefit the confederation with your refs, facilities and energy. The All-Whites would benefit greatly from playing in Asia, rather than pacific island banana republics like Fiji.

I agree about the Japan friendly versus Argentina. But what have they done wrong since the World Cup last summer? They have certified their improvement since the World Cup by winning a very competitive Asia Cup this year. I am not so sure that England would be certainties to beat Japan if they played them now. Many of England's so-called stars (Terry, Lampard, Ferdinand, Barry) are off form and passing their peak. Meanwhile Japan are producing young players making a name for themselves (Kagawa, Honda, Nagatomo, Kawashima).

sorry guys, nothing against my Kiwi cousins, but 3 and out at the world cup leaves u at an appropriate 64th. Rooting for the Little Engine that Could is sweet, but don't get carried away.

I hope one day you guys join us in Asia, and benefit the confederation with your refs, facilities and energy. The All-Whites would benefit greatly from playing in Asia, rather than pacific island banana republics like Fiji.

At least the All-Whites respect where their nation actually is, and remain within the Oceania confederation. Australia only weakened their own home federation by their own careerism. I believe that there is only 1 member of Australia's squad who plays in Asia (Kennedy), whilst the majority of the first team play in Europe. So where is the justification in FIFA allowing Australia to leave their continental association? If Australia were concerned by the difficulty of qualifying for the World Cup from Oceania's group, they could have requested a joint Asia/ Oceania qualifying campaign. Plus, they qualified for the last World Cup anyway? If they were concerned by a lack of competitive games, they could easily arrange internationals with European teams, seeing as most of their team live in Europe. Does this mean that Russia and Turkey will request a move to the Asian federation to make qualifying for the World Cup easier? Or Uruguay to CONCAF?

northlondon - FFA (Soccer Australia) made the right move. And the proof is in the pudding ; Since moving to Asia, we have achieved a best ever ranking; played many more competitive matches against strong teams ie Japan, South Korea; and slowly started making inroads into the other 3 more popular football codes in Aus. Sure - beating American Samoa 31-0 was great when we were in Oceania (still a world record)- but it really did nothing to strengthen the game.

Yes - we did achieve qualification whilst in our last year in Oceania - we had to play Uruguay (5th best Sth American) for/against for the 1/2 spot Oceania has. And yes - who can forget John Aloisi's goal against Uruguay that got them there at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney?!? Surely the biggest moment soccer in Australia has seen to date!

But our future is in Asia, not only in football, but of course has been in trade/economics for decades. Heck, our closest neighbours are Asian - Indonesians, Timorese and New Guineans. Most of our immigrants are now from Asia. And as an aside - I can assure you that Japanese supporters, to name just one other Asian grpup, love coming down to Sydney or Adelaide etc to play Asian Club games rather than Tehran or Manama! The facilities Down Under are truly world class, and world-class professionals from Japan or South Korea I'm sure appreciate them.

I really hope the Kiwis jump on board Asia in the next decade as soccer takes root in the land of the long white cloud, and join their brothers in Aus.

BTW - We have Kennedy soon to be joined by Alex Brosque (Shimizu S-Pulse) (and likely Matt McKay) in the J League as of this season. And of course the Asian Player of the Year Sasa Ognenovski playing in the K-League. Watch the J-League next season - you will see even more very soon.

If I were an Aussie now, I would be so ashamed! Japan? Losing to Japan? Geez!

The FIFA rankings don't really mean anything. It is only performance on the day that means anything.

All those rankings are fine, but is anyone else curious about what country fields the most miserable national team? Which team trains in a potholed alley on their lunch break from their regular jobs and watches scenes from Cool Runnings for morale building? Can we get a list of the sub-100 teams?

Japan showed it can play tough games without falling apart. I hope this will give them confidence and inspire younger players. It was funny that the Japanese media kept interviewing Kazu and Nakata for their wisdom, although neither one achieved the performance of Japan's current World Cup and Asian Cup side.

warnerbro - those were two of the greats you mentioned there. Remember they were ranked as high as 9 back when they were playing (1998) - and won silverware also. Some would argue that era was even better - they were relying on the new J-League players - whereas now the Samurai can draw on their mostly European players.

Kazu was a rare fully professional player in the years where Japan was only awakening to its football potential.

If he was young and playing now, with the benefits of all the advances in Japanese football, he'd be one of the top players in the world.

northlondon, England and Japan both reached the last 16 at the World Cup so in that sense neither did better than the other. Also England beat Japan 2-1 last time they played so not surprised that England are rated higher than Japan.

After that World Cup warmup match against Japan, England drew twice and won one game in their World Cup group which was a very weak group where the USA finished top. England were then hammered in the 2nd round by the Germans. Japan however, won twice and lost once to Holland in their group which was pretty tough in comparison with Holland, Cameroon and Denmark. Japan then only went out in the 2nd round after losing on penalties.

After the World Cup England's results have included losing at home to France and drawing at home to Montenegro in a European qualifying game. Japan meanwhile, have beaten Argentina and won the Asia Cup.

So why would England be rated higher than Japan?

Thanks for the explanation, Northlondon.

England did not do that well in the World Cup and have a tendency to choke in big tournaments but back home in Europe when they play qualifiers they are very strong and solid and almost always qualify to the World Cup for that reason they are among the top 10. I´m not English but I think you would be a fool not to respect them. Though they are among top 10. Portugal now I doubt will qualify for the next European Cup with Norway 11th winning that group. Countries like France, Italy are not among top 10 yet I think these countries almost always have strong teams. They are still the heavy weight in the international scene. Australia on the other hand, people don´t really talk about. They shouldn´t be playing in Asia.

They shouldn´t be playing in Asia.

Fortunately, the Asian Confederation disagrees with you. They voted - unanimously - 5 years ago to invite us into the Asian Confed. Win-win for all - and we saw that in the match up last Saturday. Socceroos and Samurai - 2 good teams representing Asia with pride.

Fortunately, the Asian Confederation disagrees with you. They voted - unanimously - 5 years ago to invite us into the Asian Confed. Win-win for all - and we saw that in the match up last Saturday. Socceroos and Samurai - 2 good teams representing Asia with pride.

After their accountants calculated how much more money Australia would bring into the Asian federation. If we are going to base our national identities on TV money and ticket sales, then lets have Brazil into Europe and the USA in South America. Brazil and England - 2 good teams representing Europe with pride.

It was better for football to have Australia in the Asian Confederation.

Better for Australia, a chance to compete seriously against more equal opposition rather than flogging the island nations of Oceania 31-0.

Better for the AFC, having another relatively strong competitive force in the region, and for the interest and money that will bring along.

It was a footballing decision made for all the right reasons, and it has been an excellent success, with the quality and profile of the Australian and the Asian game rising in the last 5 years.

Are Japan top 20? Of course they are. But who cares about what FIFA puts out, they are as corrupt as they come and no one takes them seriously.

Better for Australia, a chance to compete seriously against more equal opposition rather than flogging the island nations of Oceania 31-0.

and signalled the death of soccer in Oceania, caused by one of it's very own territories. Meanwhile Blatter bleats on about promoting the game to new parts of the world by giving the World Cup to Qatar, whilst soccer in Oceania gets buried.

It was a footballing decision made for all the right reasons

Oh please. I think I'm going to throw up. It was a money decision based on greed and made for all the wrong reasons.

and signalled the death of soccer in Oceania, caused by one of it's very own territories.

C'mon, Soccer was still-born in "Oceania" years ago! Rugby Union (and to a small extent League) is their go, that mob - in fact, it is a religion in Tonga, Samoa, NZ and Fiji. I think only New Caledonia is possibly a soccer territory - simply because it is a French Territory.

We left Oceania for our Kiwi cuzzy-bros back in '06 - they are welcome to boss around the Micronesians, Tongans and Cook Islanders to their hearts content! Actually, I'd suggest without Australia any more in the group, these small nations have a much greater chance of getting to the World Cup. I'm backing Kiribati for the 2014 World Cup!

northlondon, do you really think that soccer in Oceania could ever, ever be anything more than a bunch of hard working part timers who play when they aren't busy with their day jobs?

Absolutely not. To let Australia rot away in the most minor of the minor leagues of international football is depriving us of a chance of serious competition.

I love the islander teams, and I admire their hard work and love of the game, but there will never be a true football confederation in Oceania, with or without Australia.

After their accountants calculated how much more money Australia would bring into the Asian federation. If we are going to base our national identities on TV money and ticket sales, then lets have Brazil into Europe and the USA in South America. Brazil and England - 2 good teams representing Europe with pride.

North, Brazil in UEFA is way too much. But I don't see any problems in the merging of South, Central and North Americas into a single competition. Australia did the right move, and I think that NZ should to the same: play soccer in Asia. Is it about money? Yes, of course. But it's also about 11 men defending their country's honor. In this aspect, I think Australia was wise.