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List of Teams with Per Capita Factor

The main problem with measuring the best international football team in the world is that each country is different in terms of population. Therefore, larger countries always have an advantage because they have a larger pool of potential players to pull from. The following list will somewhat factor out this problem by rating each team by their FIFA points per head of population. This table is not claimed to be a clear cut method, but at least it gives an indication as to the teams that are punching above their weight (or not).

The natural logarithm of population is used to compensate for the non-linear scale of FIFA ranking. The difference between actual and compensated rank will then show how much each country punches above or below their weight.

Rank	Fifa Rank	Difference	Country	Points	ln(Population)	Points Per ln(Head)
1	1	0	Argentina	1518	17.50	86.73
2	3	+1	Italy	1484	17.88	83.01
3	2	-1	Brazil	1502	19.05	78.84
4	4	0	Spain	1352	17.51	77.19
5	6	+1	Czech Republic	1244	16.14	77.07
6	8	+2	Portugal	1191	16.18	73.62
7	12	+5	Croatia	1096	15.32	71.55
8	9	+1	Netherlands	1179	16.62	70.95
9	10	+1	Greece	1142	16.18	70.56
10	5	-5	Germany	1281	18.23	70.28
11	7	-4	France	1223	17.92	68.23
12	14	+2	Scotland	990	15.44	64.13
13	11	-2	England	1133	17.74	63.88
14	13	-1	Romania	1060	16.92	62.65
15	14	-1	Ghana	990	16.92	58.49
16	19	+3	Bulgaria	919	15.82	58.11
17	17	0	Cameroon	967	16.67	58.01
18	23	+5	Israel	878	15.66	56.05
19	24	+5	Sweden	877	16.01	54.76
20	30	+10	Uruguay	820	15.05	54.49
21	27	+6	Paraguay	849	15.69	54.12
22	28	+6	Norway	830	15.34	54.09
23	24	+1	Ivory Coast	877	16.69	52.56
24	34	+10	Northern Ireland	754	14.35	52.54
25	16	-9	Mexico	970	18.49	52.45
26	20	-6	Poland	903	17.47	51.70
27	18	-9	Turkey	927	18.07	51.30
28	33	+5	Denmark	795	15.51	51.25
29	21	-8	Colombia	899	17.59	51.11
30	82	+52	Mozambique	831	16.75	49.60
31	22	-9	Russia	890	18.78	47.40
32	36	+4	Republic of Ireland	703	15.22	46.20
33	32	-1	Ukraine	805	17.66	45.58
34	29	-5	Egypt	825	18.18	45.37
35	37	+2	Finland	682	15.47	44.08
36	43	+7	Senegal	717	16.30	43.99
37	26	-11	USA	852	19.51	43.66
38	41	+3	Switzerland	647	15.83	40.86
39	35	-4	Japan	747	18.66	40.02
40	38	-2	Australia	663	16.82	39.41
41	40	-1	Chile	654	16.60	39.41
42	49	+7	Moldova	602	15.28	39.40
43	43	0	Belgium	636	16.16	39.37
44	54	+10	Wales	585	14.88	39.31
45	55	+10	Lithuania	575	15.09	38.11
46	46	0	Mali	619	16.28	38.03
47	50	+3	Honduras	601	15.81	38.02
48	47	-1	Guinea	611	16.09	37.98
49	61	+12	FYR Macedonia	545	14.53	37.50
50	52	+2	Hungary	598	16.12	37.11
51	56	+5	Slovakia	568	15.51	36.62
52	41	-11	Korea Republic	647	17.70	36.55
53	53	0	Tunisia	589	16.14	36.50
54	39	-15	Iran	656	18.05	36.35
55	66	+11	Cyprus	492	13.58	36.24
56	59	+3	Bosnia-Herzegovina	554	15.32	36.16
57	50	-7	Saudi Arabia	601	17.11	35.12
58	48	-10	Morocco	605	17.32	34.93
59	57	-2	Ecuador	561	16.42	34.16
60	63	+3	Panama	512	15.02	34.10
61	45	-16	Nigeria	631	18.70	33.75
62	62	0	Belarus	530	16.15	32.82
63	59	-4	Venezuela	554	17.14	32.33
64	58	-6	Canada	557	17.26	32.27
65	64	-1	Angola	497	16.31	30.47
66	65	-1	Zambia	494	16.26	30.38
67	78	+11	Equatorial Guinea	386	13.22	29.20
68	72	+4	Latvia	424	14.63	28.98
69	74	+5	Costa Rica	438	15.22	28.78
70	67	-3	Peru	490	17.16	28.56
71	83	+12	Bahrain	379	13.28	28.54
72	68	-4	Uzbekistan	486	17.12	28.38
73	73	0	Albania	421	15.10	27.89
74	89	+15	Iceland	351	12.62	27.82
75	69	-6	Iraq	476	17.13	27.79
76	74	-2	Togo	416	15.53	26.79
77	79	+2	Slovenia	385	14.51	26.53
78	81	+3	Armenia	383	14.90	25.70
79	70	-9	South Africa	454	17.67	25.69
80	80	0	Georgia	384	15.35	25.01
81	96	+15	Qatar	341	13.69	24.90
82	98	+16	Trinidad and Tobago	340	13.88	24.50
83	86	+3	Congo	362	14.90	24.30
84	95	+11	United Arab Emirates	343	14.15	24.24
85	85	0	Libya	370	15.53	23.83
86	84	-2	Austria	377	15.92	23.68
87	90	+3	Jamaica	349	14.84	23.52
88	90	+2	New Zealand	349	15.23	22.91
89	98	+9	Oman	340	14.95	22.75
90	77	-13	Algeria	391	17.32	22.57
91	88	-3	Cuba	356	16.25	21.91
92	100	+8	Haiti	337	15.93	21.15
93	91	-2	Guatemala	344	16.36	21.03
94	96	+2	Zimbabwe	341	16.33	20.88
95	86	-9	Ethiopia	366	17.76	20.61
96	93	-3	Uganda	346	17.07	20.27
97	92	-5	Thailand	348	17.96	19.37
98	75	-23	China	406	21.00	19.33

Previous Comments For This Page

Easy, come on northern ireland
By Norn Iron NIALL on 06/08/2008

honduras should not be on the 50 place, he should be in the 15 place
On 04/07/2008

where is indonesia now ? ( dimana indonesis sekarang )
By adam on 02/07/2008

england sucks.they dont even deservr to be in the position they are now
On 17/06/2008

why the hell isn't USA higher! they just tied f**king argentina!
By USAloser22 on 10/06/2008

ehh portugal should be up higher they came in 4th for the world cup and they are the best team in the euro right now argintina is good but they dont deserve number 1 brazil isnt looking to hot either so they dont deserve to be that high either chzech republic is a good team and i think germany deserves a little more cresit also all in all its a good list viva portogal go cristiano ronaldo and the rest of the portugal team destroy everyone in your path to the euro championship
By Luke Bakos on 09/06/2008

Northern Ireland are looking healthy :D
By James on 14/02/2008

clearly Scotland are above England that is all that matters
By the true special 1 on 12/12/2007

england are rubbish i waste my time watching ther matches
By Farhan Siddique on 07/12/2007

vamos ARGENTINA!!! aguante! :D ARGENTINA!!! ARGENTINA!!! ARGENTINA!!!
On 08/11/2007

The dates for these comments have all been changed / reset to today as the system for adding comments has been updated to use AJAX. If you don’t know what that is it basally means the page does not need to reload after a comment is posted – it changes live and it also lets you (the poster) delete the comment if you make a mistake.
By admin on 31/10/2007

We are THE BEST!!! cmon GAWA we can still make it to Euro 2008!!!!!!!! Good to see us at the top of a table again!
By Holly on 31/10/2007

NORN IRON!
By Graham on 31/10/2007

I would agree that the 60th place cut off is a problem. The only conceived reason for this is that I got bored typing the places in. On 24 October 2007, when the rankings are next updated I make an effort to use all 200.
By admin on 31/10/2007

If anyone can find a list of the number of professional or amateur footballers in each of these countries I will be more than happy to use it. Otherwise the only easily available means of factoring out “the pool of potential players” is to use population. Of course this is not linear and there are flaws. This list is a point of interest rather than a statement of team X must be twice as good as team Y. Everyone is encouraged to debate this.
By admin on 31/10/2007

This is silly and cooked. Silly because, unlike, say, the GDP, the ranking points are not in any way imaginable linearly dependent on population. And it is cooked because the cut-off is first 60 teams, making sure that no nation with smaller population than N. Ireland can be counted -- otherwise the Points Per Head of countries like Luxemburg, Seychelles or San Marino would make N. Ireland look like a band of cripples
By Bohemia on 31/10/2007

I'd like to see the same stat when measured against total club players instead of population. In the US soccer isn't that popular and will never appeal to even 10% of the population. Same applies to Australia, New Zealand, Canada etc. Well done to Northern Ireland though.
By Wessels on 31/10/2007

Northern Ireland Twice World cup Quarter finalists with a population of 1.7 million who can match that ?
By Dado on 31/10/2007

what about el salvador?
By kevina on 31/10/2007

Classic !!
By Adrian Henning on 31/10/2007

John from Brooklyn - this is only done for the first 60 clubs in offical rankings. Wales isn't in the top 60 so not on this list.
By Mark on 31/10/2007

sum of these teams are not actual players in the FIFA. LIARS
By steve mommy on 31/10/2007

This is so silly it's just :-) :-) :-)
By glouille on 31/10/2007

Interesting list. I feel sorry for some of the people (Jhonathan cristiano ronaldo fan, Billy Bob, Xavier) who don't seem capable of reading the explanation at the top, how do people that stupid manage to get through life?
By Dan Miller on 31/10/2007

Ryt we beat England, Spain Sweeden and we used be 152nd now 28th! Com on Norn Iron Our wee Country!
By Norn Iron on 31/10/2007

Most people that have posted do not appear to understand how these rankings were created. However, their gripes may be legitimate as there are some mathematical flaws. After seeing the high ranking of Northern Ireland and Scotland, I was surprised to see that Wales was not on the list so I did the calculations myself. Population of 3.1 million and 428 points (both according to the FIFA website) results in points per head of .000138 which should have placed them 12th in between Finland and Costa Rica.
By John from Brooklyn on 31/10/2007

This is academically the best means of producing rank. It is real term measuremnt, and shows indeed that the bigger the better. It is science that the bigger beats the smaller over the long term, and this excellent methodology irons out those inherent inequalities. I have to laugh at the irony of the comment of Deano tho, "if only NI were a bigger country." Lost on you? Think about it!!! And well done to the South as well, from the best team in the world...real terms! Biggy Jacks
By Big Jacko on 31/10/2007

come on the green and white army....we always punch above our weight!
By kathy... belfast! on 31/10/2007

HEALY! Dude (cristiano ronaldo fan), i would calm yourself. True, nobodies gonna say that Northern ireland are better than Brazil, because that hasn't been proven yet and fifas rankings prove that because NI are below brazil. But if only we (NI) were a bigger country...... "dreams" :P. "And healy scores his seventh today past Dida, what a fantastic result for the Green and White Army! Brazil 2- Northern Ireland 9
By Deano on 31/10/2007

The following top list was so embarissing to watch that i would literally burn my eyes out than to see it againg, how can Northern Ireland be on top and brasil in the last top 10 teams, and mexico, and colombia. I understand USA's position, im not really angry but seeing uruguay above and beyond, italy, germany, england, brasil, portugal, sweden, and argentina, is so dumb, you guys should really begin to watch soccer. with no love Cristiano ronaldo fan
By Jhonathan cristiano ronaldo on 31/10/2007

well done fifa
By dohnji divine on 31/10/2007

People need to understand that the creator of this League is only slaggin, its just a bit of fun so ooooooh there trigger get off that high horse and drink some milk
By Keith on 31/10/2007

i am sure by this method china will be a super power in football
By gwanmesia mike on 31/10/2007

Just imagine. NI with a population of c1.5m beat England population c60m 1-0. If we were the same size as England, we would have won 40-0!
By Stick on 31/10/2007

In Norn Iron we hae know this to be true for years. Just look at the team we have at present. Pele who.....Georgie Best!
By Wee Paul on 31/10/2007

haha gaon norn iron and i dont think people understand this is do wo with population too... if norn iron was the size of brazil, noone would play football, as we would be even more untouchable tha we already are.
By Michael McDowell on 31/10/2007

Gawn the norniron like
By Des on 31/10/2007

A bizare method of ranking
By Gwanmesia Michael Sabum on 31/10/2007

We've probably got the best striker playing in Europe right now, David Healy. The Green and white army march on to euro 2008!!!!
By Paul on 31/10/2007

Do you think if Northern Ireland have a population of Brazil, will perform like Brazil ? No! That's why this system doesn't make sense.
By Xavier on 31/10/2007

A simply ridiculous system of ranking!
By Xavier on 31/10/2007

And the fans in Rio sing 'We're not Northern Ireland, we're Brazil'.
By dr.aye well if ye want on 31/10/2007

go on norn iron!!!
By paul on 31/10/2007

Go Norn Iron! We r so no.1!
By NI babe on 31/10/2007

How is Germany ranked number 4 and then england is number 8...Germany suck compared to england. These rankings are so not true.
By Billy Bob on 31/10/2007

Best in the world, always knew it in my heart, now we have the stats to back it up!
By Flipping magic on 31/10/2007

we have got the best striker in europe at the moment the living legend, the great one, david healy. green and white army march on to euro 2008!!!!
By ricky on 31/10/2007

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