The U.S.A. is 5th ranked in the world, really?

1 Billion people watch the World Cup... This blows away the Super Bowl from a viewing standpoint , yet very very few average sports fans could name 3 United States World Cup team players.

I was shocked to learn that the U.S. team was ranked #5.

Journeyman said:

1 Billion people watch the World Cup... This blows away the Super Bowl from a viewing standpoint , yet very very few average sports fans could name 3 United States World Cup team players.

I was shocked to learn that the U.S. team was ranked #5.

Click to expand...

Well, I guess we're good enough to have one quality team. but at every other level, we can't compete.

Of course, our chicks rock!!!!!!!

You mean beyond the 11 or so United States starters and reserves, we drop off in comparison?

It is strange how the women dominate but the men cannot really compete.

There have been multiple threads on this around the forums and it seems that it isn't a realistic ranking. Think people who seemed to know about soccer where rating the US as more like a top 15 team.

Yessir we have quite a good team and with 300million people it would be a shame if we couldn't put together a fighting squad. It's just too bad they put us with Italy and the Czechs!

FIFA rankings are useless. :thumbsup2: USA 100/1 to win on skybet. i'd say top 20 at best but ......


GO U.S !!!!!

FIFA rankings are a joke......

Czech = 2
USA = 5
Italy = 13

But Italy is minus money to win the pool and the US is at least +600 everywhere.

FIFA rankings are a joke and I'm a soccer fan. We're #5 in the WC but if you look at the odds to win the WC we're a longshot compared to teams ranked below us.

We all know that the bookie's odds are all you really need to know.

Feel free to compare and contrast....

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=300 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=51>1</TD><TD width=241>Brazil</TD></TR><TR><TD>2</TD><TD>Czech Republic</TD></TR><TR><TD>3</TD><TD>The Netherlands</TD></TR><TR><TD>4</TD><TD>Mexico</TD></TR><TR><TD>5</TD><TD>USA </TD></TR><TR><TD>5</TD><TD>Spain</TD></TR><TR><TD>7</TD><TD>Portugal</TD></TR><TR><TD>8</TD><TD>France</TD></TR><TR><TD>9</TD><TD>Argentina</TD></TR><TR><TD>10</TD><TD>England</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD>11</TD><TD>Nigeria</TD></TR><TR><TD>11</TD><TD>Denmark</TD></TR><TR><TD>13</TD><TD>Italy </TD></TR><TR><TD>14</TD><TD>Turkey</TD></TR><TR><TD>15</TD><TD>Cameroon</TD></TR><TR><TD>16</TD><TD>Sweden</TD></TR><TR><TD>17</TD><TD>Egypt </TD></TR><TR><TD>18</TD><TD>Japan</TD></TR><TR><TD>19</TD><TD>Germany </TD></TR><TR><TD>20</TD><TD>Greece</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top> </TD><TD vAlign=top> </TD></TR><TR><TD>21</TD><TD>Tunisia</TD></TR><TR><TD>22</TD><TD>Uruguay </TD></TR><TR><TD>23</TD><TD>Iran </TD></TR><TR><TD>23</TD><TD>Croatia</TD></TR><TR><TD>25</TD><TD>Romania </TD></TR><TR><TD>26</TD><TD>Costa Rica </TD></TR><TR><TD>27</TD><TD>http://forum.therx.com/Colombia</TD></TR><TR><TD>28</TD><TD>Senegal </TD></TR><TR><TD>29</TD><TD>Poland</TD></TR><TR><TD>29</TD><TD>Korea Republic</TD></TR><TR><TD>31</TD><TD>Republic of Ireland</TD></TR><TR><TD>32</TD><TD>Côte d'Ivoire</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

<TABLE class="mkts iii" cellSpacing=0 summary=""><TBODY><TR class=bet><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|9|4|||N|16130150||W name=bskt_leg_16130150 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130150"> Brazil 9/4 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|66|1|||N|16130162||W name=bskt_leg_16130162 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130162"> Ukraine 66/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|150|1|||N|16130173||W name=bskt_leg_16130173 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130173"> Ghana 150/1 </LABEL></TD></TR><TR class=bet_><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|13|2|||N|16130154||W name=bskt_leg_16130154 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130154"> England 13/2 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|66|1|||N|16130163||W name=bskt_leg_16130163 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130163"> Croatia 66/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|200|1|||N|16130172||W name=bskt_leg_16130172 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130172"> Paraguay 200/1 </LABEL></TD></TR><TR class=bet><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|8|1|||N|16130152||W name=bskt_leg_16130152 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130152"> Germany 8/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|66|1|||N|16130159||W name=bskt_leg_16130159 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130159"> Mexico 66/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|200|1|||N|16130174||W name=bskt_leg_16130174 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130174"> Tunisia 200/1 </LABEL></TD></TR><TR class=bet_><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|8|1|||N|16130153||W name=bskt_leg_16130153 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130153"> Argentina 8/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|80|1|||N|16130164||W name=bskt_leg_16130164 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130164"> Serbia and Mont. 80/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|250|1|||N|16130176||W name=bskt_leg_16130176 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130176"> South Korea 250/1 </LABEL></TD></TR><TR class=bet><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|11|1|||N|16130151||W name=bskt_leg_16130151 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130151"> Italy 11/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|80|1|||N|16130165||W name=bskt_leg_16130165 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130165"> Ivory Coast 80/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|250|1|||N|16130177||W name=bskt_leg_16130177 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130177"> Iran 250/1 </LABEL></TD></TR><TR class=bet_><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|12|1|||N|16130156||W name=bskt_leg_16130156 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130156"> France 12/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|100|1|||N|16130167||W name=bskt_leg_16130167 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130167"> U.S.A 100/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|400|1|||N|16130178||W name=bskt_leg_16130178 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130178"> Togo 400/1 </LABEL></TD></TR><TR class=bet><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|14|1|||N|16130155||W name=bskt_leg_16130155 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130155"> Spain 14/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|100|1|||N|16130169||W name=bskt_leg_16130169 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130169"> Australia 100/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|400|1|||N|16130179||W name=bskt_leg_16130179 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130179"> Saudia Arabia 400/1 </LABEL></TD></TR><TR class=bet_><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|14|1|||N|16130157||W name=bskt_leg_16130157 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130157"> Holland 14/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|125|1|||N|16130168||W name=bskt_leg_16130168 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130168"> Switzerland 125/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|500|1|||N|16130175||W name=bskt_leg_16130175 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130175"> Angola 500/1 </LABEL></TD></TR><TR class=bet><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|20|1|||N|16130158||W name=bskt_leg_16130158 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130158"> Portugal 20/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|125|1|||N|16130170||W name=bskt_leg_16130170 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130170"> Ecuador 125/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|500|1|||N|16130180||W name=bskt_leg_16130180 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130180"> Costa Rica 500/1 </LABEL></TD></TR><TR class=bet_><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|40|1|||N|16130160||W name=bskt_leg_16130160 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130160"> Czech Rep. 40/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|150|1|||N|16130166||W name=bskt_leg_16130166 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130166"> Poland 150/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|2000|1|||N|16130181||W name=bskt_leg_16130181 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130181"> Trinidad & Tobago 2000/1 </LABEL></TD></TR><TR class=bet><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|40|1|||N|16130161||W name=bskt_leg_16130161 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130161"> Sweden 40/1 </LABEL></TD><TD width="33%"><LABEL><INPUT type=checkbox value=||L|150|1|||N|16130171||W name=bskt_leg_16130171 lf="dd_selns.bskt_leg_16130171"> Japan 150/1 </LABEL></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Journeyman said:

It is strange how the women dominate but the men cannot really compete.

Click to expand...

Nobody in the rest of the world cares about womens soccer. It is like WNBA. The mens game is popular throughtout the world and countries have been playing it as their number 1 sport for years. Hence the US's difficulty in making an impact on the sporting landscape in the mens game.

fifa rankings are based on friendlies and your regional qualifying games. Thats why both Mexico and USA are so high. They beat up on Concacaf opponents as opposed to the tougher competition in Europe and basically everywhere else, except Asia (notice both Japan and Korea higher then they should be also).

You're just awarded points for victories no matter who they're against.

there is no way in the world that the US is better than France

HPark1 said:

fifa rankings are based on friendlies and your regional qualifying games. Thats why both Mexico and USA are so high. They beat up on Concacaf opponents as opposed to the tougher competition in Europe and basically everywhere else, except Asia (notice both Japan and Korea higher then they should be also).

You're just awarded points for victories no matter who they're against.

Click to expand...

They need to hire the BCS folks as consultants.......

According to the books the U.S. is about 17th in the world... we are better than that imho. It is nearly 100% obvious we are not going to win the World Cup and the books are absolutely going to bank on people betting on the U.S. The better the line, the more people will bet and that is why we are that big of longshot.

BillBrasky said:

According to the books the U.S. is about 17th in the world... we are better than that imho. It is nearly 100% obvious we are not going to win the World Cup and the books are absolutely going to bank on people betting on the U.S. The better the line, the more people will bet and that is why we are that big of longshot.

Click to expand...

I agree, the FIFA ranking is useless and USAs team is obvioulsy not the 5th best, but they are underrated as far as the odds go, I think they will make the round of 16 along with Italy....Czech Republic is overrated IMO

just a quick informative note, the FIFA rankings include not just the main team but also Young (teens etc) selections and it does have also other criteria , its not just the seniors team that compete in the World Cup (they have 'world' championships for youths (before 18) and I think there is also a 'world cup' for younger than that

I've heard that if there were 9 #1 seeds given out instead of 8, USA would have been the ninth. So that might give a better idea of where we really should be ranked.

USA is 100:1 on that site...

That means something...the linesmakers know what they are talking about

And

Especially after the disaster of a game on MOnday..UGH