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Every month FIFA comes out with its infamous world rankings; ranking every national team on the planet. These rankings may be the most subjective rankings you could ever come across.

First, how on earth can you compare a team in South America to a team in Asia, or a team in Africa? Can you really determine that, say, Egypt is better than Ecuador? Or Mexico is better than Australia?  The rankings, as popular as they are and as fun as they are to talk about, especially in a World Cup year, mean nothing, and are often mind-bendingly confusing.

For instance, looking at March of this year, I can’t help but be a bit perplexed by some of the rankings. So, since they are so subjective, and since the World Cup is only a couple months away, I thought I’d give the great FIFA rankings a little tweaking. Here is my Top 20. I’ve also shown where FIFA considers each team.

1              Netherlands                       (FIFA 3)

2              Brazil                                     (FIFA 2)

3              Spain                                     (FIFA 1)

4              Italy                                       (FIFA 4)

5              Germany                             (FIFA 5)

6              France                                  (FIFA  7)

7              Ivory Coast                         (FIFA 22)

8              Portugal                               (FIFA  6)

9              Argentina                            (FIFA  9)

10           United States                    (FIFA 18)

11           England                                                (FIFA

12           Russia                                   (FIFA 12)

13           Greece                                 (FIFA 10)

14           Mexico                                 (FIFA 15)

15           Croatia                                  (FIFA 11)

16           Nigeria                                  (FIFA 21)

17           Ghana                                   (FIFA 28)

18           Australia                              (FIFA 23)

19           Switzerland                        (FIFA 15)

20           Ukraine                                                (FIFA 24)

FIFA’s rankings are subjective and probably more than just a little political. They also seem to give European teams a nod over African , North American  (U.S. and Mexico, basically) and South American teams.

The teams I think are getting the short end of the stick, as you can see from my rankings, are the Ivory Coast, the United States, Nigeria, Ghana and Australia. I think all of these teams have a great chance to play deep into the World Cup. Some of the teams that I think are ranked a little too highly, according to FIFA, are Portugal, England, Greece and Croatia. The European countries are strong, but FIFA tends to give them a little too much credit. Portugal, for instance, has not had the best couple of years heading into the World Cup, but there they are, ranked in the top ten. Based on what, exactly? Cristiano Ronaldo’s new hair style? The United States at number 18 and the Ivory Coast at number 22 are utterly ridiculous. Does anyone really believe Switzerland should be ranked higher than the states? Or, based on the last few years, even Mexico?

We’ll see who was more accurate come June in South Africa. Until then, I’ll keep posting my updated top 20 monthly in conjunction with FIFA’s rankings. Let the best man win……

By: Ron Furlong
DFN Sports Staff Writer