U.S. tops first FIFA women's rankings

FIFA Women's World Rankings Top 10 teams and others that qualified for the Women's World Cup Rk.  Country  Points  1.  U.S.  2169  2.  Norway  2159  3.  Germany  2152  4.  China  2110  5.  Sweden  2073  6.  Brazil  2036  7.  North Korea  2004  8.  Denmark*  1967  9.  France  1963  10.  Italy*  1943  11.  Russia  1899  12.  Canada  1867  14.  Japan  1850  15.  Australia  1839  23.  Nigeria  1738  24.  South Korea  1727  35.  Argentina  1624  53.  Ghana  1458  Note: Denmark and Italy are the only two teams on the above list not participating in 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup.

ATLANTA (SI.com) -- The U.S. women's national team have officially been named the top team in the world in the first edition of the FIFA Women's World Rankings, announced on Wednesday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

"We're honored to be the first team to be ranked No. 1," U.S. Soccer president Dr. Bob Contigulia said after the rankings were announced at The Home Depot Center, site of the final. "I know our players will be thrilled."

FIFA, which has ranked men's national teams for 10 years, unveiled its first women's rankings in advance of the final draw for this fall’s Women's World Cup. The draw will held Thursday in Los Angeles at the Home Depot Center, which will host the final in October.

FIFA is instituting the women's rankings in an effort to boost the popularity of women's soccer, officials said.

"The bad news about the rankings -- no surprises," FIFA official Marius Schneider said. "If you have a close look at the world rankings, it's not going to stay like this.

"Any of the top teams failing to do well in the World Cup will not be able to cling on to their position. The world ranking is likely to look quite a bit different after the Women's World Cup."

Following the U.S. -- winner of the FIFA Women's World Cup 1991 and 1999, and Olympic gold medalist in 1996 -- are reigning Olympic champion Norway and European champion Germany, with 2007 Women's World Cup host China in fourth place. A resurgent Sweden is ranked fifth, followed by South American champion Brazil and Asian champion North Korea.

The U.S. women have lost only three matches in the last two calendars years, two to Norway and one to China and are 9-1-3 in 2003. The U.S. has a record of 222-47-30 since the start of the program in 1985.

In addition to winning three world championships, the U.S. finished third at the 1995 Women's World Cup and second at the 2000 Olympics.

The rankings are determined on the basis of a performance rating that takes into account numerous factors such as results, home advantage, importance of each match and the difference in the strength of the two teams involved. The rankings will appear four times each year. The next FIFA Women's World Ranking will be published on August 29.

The inaugural ranking was calculated using a comprehensive database of over 3,000 matches played between 1971 and the present. FIFA has high hopes that the rankings will spark further interest in the sport, while also providing an accurate yardstick for comparing the more than 100 national teams that are currently active.

In 2001, FIFA conducted a study indicating that 22 million active women are playing soccer worldwide. Ninety-nine teams participated in the recently completed preliminary rounds of the Women's World Cup, more than twice the number that took part in the qualifiers for the first Women's World Cup in China 12 years ago.

 

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