What a bunch of rankers!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Just how tough are the four Euro 2012 qualifying groups? Perhaps by looking at the very latest FIFA rankings we can get a better perspective on which teams are most likely to qualify for the knock-out stages in Poland and Ukraine.

While Group A resembles a bunch of characters who have gatecrashed the party, in other circumstances Group B could quite easily be the four semi-finalist teams.

Group C, meanwhile, is certainly no walk in the park, while Group D does make you question the whole FIFA ranking system, with an in-form France only ranked 16th, hosts Ukraine considered worse than El Salvador, Scotland and strife-torn Libya, while managerless England are deemed the overwhelmingly best team in their group.

                                       FIFA Ranking
Group A
Poland                                   65
Greece                                   14
Russia                                   11
Czech Republic                    26
Average rank: 29

Group B
Holland                                   4
Denmark                                9
Germany                                2
Portugal                                 5
Average rank: 5

Group C
Spain                                      1
Italy                                        12
Ireland                                  18
Croatia                                   8
Average rank: 10

Group D
Ukraine                                 49
Sweden                                17
France                                  16
England                                 7
Average rank: 22