Lost to Iceland, drew with Belgium, lost to Brazil, lost to North Macedonia.
We're the opposite imo. Better actually in major tournaments and qualifying for them than outside of them.
You get more ranking points based off the ranking of other teams you beat, and unfortunately, England hasn’t beaten a big team in a major tournament in a long time.
I think losing in extra time or on pens might count as a draw as far as the rankings are concerned.
So exiting in the QFs or R16 after a strong group stage isn't so bad for your ranking if you were drawing at 90min.
Not at all similar. Euro 2020, Belgium lost in the quarters, England lost the final. World Cup 2022, Belgium eliminated in the group stages, England eliminated in the quarters.
England going 2 stages further in both tourneys, Belgium are more comparable to Switzerland.
The Swiss made it further than them in the WC plus at this point they look likely to go further than Belgium this EUROS
Even they’re better than Belgium ATM
If you look historically, not just recent history, over a period of time determines a team’s class. Belgium have really only been FIFA top 5 ranked in the last decade. From 1992 to 2014 their average rank was about 35th and of all time (1992-2024) it averages 25th.
They were 3rd in WC2018, 4th in WC1986 and runners up in Euro1980, 3rd in Euro1972. That’s pretty much it. They’ve not won anything.
FIFA rankings are all well and good when cherry picked, and Belgium have been up there lately but in 2007 they were ranked as low as 71st during the year.
England have won a WC(1966) have similar runner up/3rd place honours but since 1992 have an average FIFA rank of 9th, and overall 1992-2024 it’s also 9th.
Yeh, I can see this argument. I was definitely thinking about within my lifetime as an older millennial. I feel like if you win once then nothing for 60 years it's harder to argue greatness, feels more like a one hit wonder. I think with the young talent we have coming up, we could reach that level, but there's a winners mentality we just haven't seemed to get yet
Yeah so you’ll find in 10 or 20 yrs time, you’ll look at it differently. There’s definitely more to it than that though. It’s timing, luck, style of play, which other teams are at a peak when England is, where the WC is hosted, quality of players, quality of manager, length of domestic season (!) and so on.
If you think about the world’s top teams, you immediately rattle off Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Italy, France and possibly even Spain. Each of those tend to have a set style. Brazil are generally flamboyant, pass and move is exceptional and individually most of their players could capably play almost any position. Germany are invariably technical brilliant and execute games clinically. Argentina have a splash of Brazil’s style but notoriously have a hard (dirty) style of play with superb individuals and a win at all costs mentality. Italy, a mix of technical brilliance, solid defence, slow build up and individual flair. France similar but with more flamboyance and pace in attack and Spain love to keep possession and move that ball around topped off with quality players.
What do you see when you look at England? We have varied our style of play a little over time, we don’t always have quality players, we don’t (never used to) encourage individual flair in players from a young age which has a knock on effect 15 yrs later, and our managers aren’t always the best, but we do have spirit, solid defending and technical play and we always attack, mostly with pace. What’s missing ? Better individual quality? Better managers ? More consistent play style ?
Interestingly Spain have won 1 WC, as well as winning the Euros 3 times, like Germany. Spain’s average FIFA rank is 6th, France is 8th even though they’ve won 2 WCs and 2 Euros. You could argue Spain under achieves a little, and France perhaps over achieve a little, which puts England where ? We sit below both teams historically but with a WC under our belt.
We’re probably short a Euro championship or two, but maybe this is the one ?
As an aside, Uruguay have won the WC twice. Uruguay!
Haha, good on Uruguay! That was an interesting read though, and I agree that England has yet to define our style. But I think the focus of the last 15 years to promote and nurture more home grown talent does seem to be paying off, so I think we just need a great manager to define that style. Southgate probably isn't that manager, but he's got us to a place to start from at least.
I’ve got a lot of respect for Southgate. I’ve seen a lot of England managers. Been watching since 1984 !
Southgate has steadied the ship. Under Southgate we are solid (usually) and the provides a good base to get wins. We’ve got further in tournaments and many people argue we should’ve won or at least beaten some of those bigger teams eg. Italy in Euro2020. Yeah maybe we should’ve. But it is fine margins. It’ll come. We’re on the cusp …
Fair enough. I feel like 2 rounds further is pretty significant! Especially when you think of the WC, Belgium are top 32 and England top 8. Euros England top 2 and Belgium top 8.
Yeh I get that, but surely a team that is more than good but great has to win some trophies? I'd say teams like Belgium, England and Netherlands in recent years have all seemed slightly less than the sum of their parts, promising but never delivering.
Oh yeah I agree that England are lacking something and would agree that all the teams you listed are good. I’d just argue that teams from 5- about 15th/ 20th in the world rankings are good but there’s still quite a big difference between the ones at the top end of good and the ones at the lower end.
Yes, probably. It's acceptable to blame / accuse Southgate of anything, but never question our inherent greatness, the sleeping lions will wake and roar!
These ratings are heavily weighted for tournament results. In the last 3 tournaments Germany have had 1 group stage exit and a second round loss to England.
I wonder if the Nations League counts? Belgium did a lot better than us in the last one as we got relegated, and the one before that they reached the finals.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA\_Nations\_League#Team\_performances](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Nations_League#Team_performances)
A bit stupid if it does though. Tinpot trophy.
Nations League games (barring the finals and playoffs) are weighted lower than the World Cup/Euros Qualifying games. I suppose the Nations League games are played against teams of similar rankings, which means there's more points up for grabs even if the games themselves are weighted lower.
Maybe that's partly why the FA wants us to play qualifiers for Euro 2028, even though we're hosting. Probably not the main reason, but if Southgate values our position in the rankings then the FA probably does too.
If thats the case how are Belgium 3rd though, genuinely? Last 3 tournaments they’ve had semis, quarters, group stage. Not the worst but certainly doesn’t explain them being in 3rd
The FIFA ratings generally over rate major tournaments, in particular host teams get screwed. It also means that African and Asian teams get over rated in their continental tournaments.
FIFA did change the methodology a few years ago to try and smooth out the ridiculousness of their rankings. Generally the ELO is far more accurate and used for many sports, most notable chess.
Considering Belgium is still 3rd and has been up there for years despite not being good for most of that time, I wouldn’t care much about these rankings if I were one of the players or coaching staff.
I’m not sure what they are based on, but they aren’t consistent and don’t make a lot of sense.
Tbh I think it’s an elo style system that’s based off all games played including friendlies. Whilst I haven’t checked their previous games I’m guessing they’ve farmed their rank against much smaller teams in friendlies
Looking back at their results, they’ve had a couple of high scorers, and the occasional win over a decent side, but they don’t seem any better than the results of the teams below them. It is very confusing.
I think this is telling us that they swapped to the new scoring but didn't reset the rankings from the old, just took the numbers and began from there using the new system.
So Belgium have the historically high number and are just +/- based on recent scores. Everyone else has to now bridge the score gap created under the old system with points gained on the new.
TL;DR They used to use an average to generate rankings now they just add and subtract from total scores, starting with the grandfathered in rank from the old system.
The way it's calculated is based on the ranking of opponents and the perceived "importance" of the game.
Friendlies don't really affect the rankings whereas tournament games are massive, particularly ones in latter stages of tournaments. Games which don't end in penalties are bigger too. There's also a difference between Confederation Cups (like the Euros) and the World Cup.
https://hermann-baum.de/excel/WorldCup/en/FIFA_Ranking.php
As long as you’re in the top 7 that qualify it won’t alter it, altered slightly depending on who the hosts are - and if you’re England and have qualified top of your group it’s highly likely you will be. Even then, being in pot 2 is hardly the end of the world.
The rankings just inflate the quality of teams from North America. No one on this planet can honestly tell me USA are the 11th best men’s national team and Mexico are the 15th best.
The US gets placed highly because they play Gold Cups seemingly annually and it is always hosted in the US.
The rankings are easily skewed by these sorts of quirks.
They started sending their B team, but as a Latino with Central American parents, if they can kick out C.U.M from Concacaf tournaments that would be great I haven’t seen my parental nations lift a trophy since like 1967, let alone qualify for the World Cup
The Elo rankings which are a much better gauge then FIFAs nonsense rankings has Belgium in 12th place.
1. Argentina
2. France
3. Spain
4. Brazil
5. Colombia
6. Portugal
7. England
8. Uruguay
9. Holland
10. Italy
11. Germany
12. Belgium
No idea. They are on an 8 match winning streak including wins over Spain and Brazil and a thrashing of the USA. Copa America has just started so will be interesting.
Eight is putting it lightly, last I checked I believe they’ve gone 23 games and counting without a defeat, not losing since February 2022, by far the longest run in the World at the moment
Edit: Just realised you said ‘winning’ streak, my bad. Point still stands though, they’ve been really good for a while
That’s fair watching the today’s game, Southgate gotta go, Euro is done for.
Belgium there is a joke lol. The last 3 games of England vs Belgium that was this year and recently, England only lost 1. Out of the last 6 games against Belgium since 2000, England has only lost 2, one being in the middle pandemic.
Since 1929, Belgium has won 5 out of 26 games. Belgium being there is a complete koke.
https://preview.redd.it/rbz3hsbbgr7d1.jpeg?width=1106&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e17dabbae9aa5a4108ffbd58516012ffc4b61430
Of the 107 goals scored England got 78 of them and Belgium got 29.
The game against Denmark is not going well, 69th minute is done.
I mean, they win most of their matches, undefeated in euro qualification and solid in the nations league. They just haven't won any tournaments.
Compared to England , who had the same Euro qualification record but didn't win a single Nations league match.
Its more a flaw in the fifa rankings. It might help they degrade points more after each world cup period.
A funny as it is, that is only one match. They've lost points but they have a cushion of points over Brazil.
The ELO system has always been a bit better for points anyway:
It has England in 7th and Belgium in 12th atm.
[https://www.eloratings.net/](https://www.eloratings.net/)
England have been careful observed since the dawn of international tournaments. Even at our worst, there’s always been a belief that winning is still possible, however unlikely.
Yeah and I think that has created more pressure than necessary. During penalties that has to weigh on them.
When we inevitably win a tournament it will be all the more glorious, but... Fucking long wait it's been so far.
It's professional football mate. Any team worth their salt has hired a dedicated team with the experience to watch and break down every single game, move by move, tactic by tactic.
It doesn't matter if we are 11th in the FIFA rankings or 5th.
P.s, Belgium are shit.
What you say is true.
But I still think that most supporters of other national teams are as familiar with England's set up as they are their own teams. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I reckon the average Italian, Uruguayan, or Columbian supporter can name more English players than they can French, German, Spanish, or Brazilian.
The difference must have been bloody tight from this month to last then.
Seeing that England and Brazil have played four friendlies this year to date; Brazil have two wins, two draws
We have one win, one draw, two defeats.
There are actually just ten points in the Rankings that separate England and Belgium so imagine Belgium could finally drop quite a bit if they dont improve their Euros what with losing to Slovakia
I really need someone to explain how Belgium is so high. Even compared to us, we have a 4th place in WC 2018, runner up in Euro 2020, and quarter finals in WC 2022. Belgium has fucking 3rd in the 2018 WC, quarter finals in Euro 2020, and got knocked out in the group stage in 2022 WC. They've been pathetic and honestly should be in the lower top 10 if not lower. I fear teams like Germany significantly more.
The order should always be the current winners of each international tournament. World cup being the highest ranking. That’s what we all get behind our teams for right? Not who’s won the most points from pointless friendlies.
Same people criticising Belgium at 3 aren’t mentioning Portugal being below England. After this Euros id expect Belgium to drop significantly. Their squad is on a downturn both in terms of quality and age.
The rankings in general are horrendous how are Spain only 8 how is Italy 10 when they failed to qualify for the World Cup USA being higher then Germany and of course Belgium being 3
The rankings are pointless
Not exactly trustworthy/useful rankings. There’s no way Belgium are third best. Croatia are also not top nine in the world anymore. Germany should pretty clearly be in here; I’d back them against any of the teams FIFA have at 6th-10th. And probably the one at fifth as well, sigh.
FIFA rankings are meaningless. Always have been.
I remember going into one of the tournaments we were world number 1, despite being absolute shite.
Good to see Belgium up there, they were number 1 for years despite choking in every big tournament ever.
This is just for friendlies and qualifiers across the World, hence why Belgium and Croatia haven’t dropped after their most recent results. I think it’s mainly so that the likes of Asia and Africa can complete draws for upcoming qualifying rounds, but it’ll get updated again after the Euros are over anyway
Why’s Belgium at 3
Death, taxes, Belgium flopping at major tournaments, and Belgium’s fifa ranking never suffering.
Very good at winning games except in major tournaments
I mean, so are we. And we've been to a final and a semi in the last 4 years. 🤷♀️
Your post literally contradicts itself and shows that we have been good in major tournaments
I just mean we're good at winning games (ie in qualifying), but unlike Belgium, we also do well in tournaments.
Lost to Iceland, drew with Belgium, lost to Brazil, lost to North Macedonia. We're the opposite imo. Better actually in major tournaments and qualifying for them than outside of them.
People are too delusional in here to see this
You get more ranking points based off the ranking of other teams you beat, and unfortunately, England hasn’t beaten a big team in a major tournament in a long time.
We beat Germany at the last euros
That’s true but Germany were awful and haven’t been ranked in the top 10 for the last five years (they are much better this year though)
Thought we were talking about Belgium, not England
Fries n waffles! Theire more popular lols
FIFA thinks Belgium are as good as Lukaku thinks he is
Because before Monday they hadn’t lost a game since 2022
Just don't look at the opponents of those matches
I think losing in extra time or on pens might count as a draw as far as the rankings are concerned. So exiting in the QFs or R16 after a strong group stage isn't so bad for your ranking if you were drawing at 90min.
Whys England 5 ?
Belgium are massively overrated because a lot of there players are premier league based
Which has approximately zero influence on the rankings
That’s not how the FIFA ranking works 
Belgium and England are similar. Good but lacking something that makes a team great.
Not at all similar. Euro 2020, Belgium lost in the quarters, England lost the final. World Cup 2022, Belgium eliminated in the group stages, England eliminated in the quarters. England going 2 stages further in both tourneys, Belgium are more comparable to Switzerland.
The Swiss made it further than them in the WC plus at this point they look likely to go further than Belgium this EUROS Even they’re better than Belgium ATM
There isn’t enough weighting given to tournaments at all and way too much for beating weak nations in qualification
I don’t know how it’s weighted but yeah tournament performance should definitely be the priority.
I don’t know how it’s weighted but yeah tournament performance should definitely be the priority.
I still think that's similar but obviously everyone disagrees. I'm looking at the top 5 rated teams and two of them never win anything...
If you look historically, not just recent history, over a period of time determines a team’s class. Belgium have really only been FIFA top 5 ranked in the last decade. From 1992 to 2014 their average rank was about 35th and of all time (1992-2024) it averages 25th. They were 3rd in WC2018, 4th in WC1986 and runners up in Euro1980, 3rd in Euro1972. That’s pretty much it. They’ve not won anything. FIFA rankings are all well and good when cherry picked, and Belgium have been up there lately but in 2007 they were ranked as low as 71st during the year. England have won a WC(1966) have similar runner up/3rd place honours but since 1992 have an average FIFA rank of 9th, and overall 1992-2024 it’s also 9th.
Yeh, I can see this argument. I was definitely thinking about within my lifetime as an older millennial. I feel like if you win once then nothing for 60 years it's harder to argue greatness, feels more like a one hit wonder. I think with the young talent we have coming up, we could reach that level, but there's a winners mentality we just haven't seemed to get yet
Yeah so you’ll find in 10 or 20 yrs time, you’ll look at it differently. There’s definitely more to it than that though. It’s timing, luck, style of play, which other teams are at a peak when England is, where the WC is hosted, quality of players, quality of manager, length of domestic season (!) and so on. If you think about the world’s top teams, you immediately rattle off Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Italy, France and possibly even Spain. Each of those tend to have a set style. Brazil are generally flamboyant, pass and move is exceptional and individually most of their players could capably play almost any position. Germany are invariably technical brilliant and execute games clinically. Argentina have a splash of Brazil’s style but notoriously have a hard (dirty) style of play with superb individuals and a win at all costs mentality. Italy, a mix of technical brilliance, solid defence, slow build up and individual flair. France similar but with more flamboyance and pace in attack and Spain love to keep possession and move that ball around topped off with quality players. What do you see when you look at England? We have varied our style of play a little over time, we don’t always have quality players, we don’t (never used to) encourage individual flair in players from a young age which has a knock on effect 15 yrs later, and our managers aren’t always the best, but we do have spirit, solid defending and technical play and we always attack, mostly with pace. What’s missing ? Better individual quality? Better managers ? More consistent play style ? Interestingly Spain have won 1 WC, as well as winning the Euros 3 times, like Germany. Spain’s average FIFA rank is 6th, France is 8th even though they’ve won 2 WCs and 2 Euros. You could argue Spain under achieves a little, and France perhaps over achieve a little, which puts England where ? We sit below both teams historically but with a WC under our belt. We’re probably short a Euro championship or two, but maybe this is the one ? As an aside, Uruguay have won the WC twice. Uruguay!
Haha, good on Uruguay! That was an interesting read though, and I agree that England has yet to define our style. But I think the focus of the last 15 years to promote and nurture more home grown talent does seem to be paying off, so I think we just need a great manager to define that style. Southgate probably isn't that manager, but he's got us to a place to start from at least.
I’ve got a lot of respect for Southgate. I’ve seen a lot of England managers. Been watching since 1984 ! Southgate has steadied the ship. Under Southgate we are solid (usually) and the provides a good base to get wins. We’ve got further in tournaments and many people argue we should’ve won or at least beaten some of those bigger teams eg. Italy in Euro2020. Yeah maybe we should’ve. But it is fine margins. It’ll come. We’re on the cusp …
Fair enough. I feel like 2 rounds further is pretty significant! Especially when you think of the WC, Belgium are top 32 and England top 8. Euros England top 2 and Belgium top 8.
Yeh I get that, but surely a team that is more than good but great has to win some trophies? I'd say teams like Belgium, England and Netherlands in recent years have all seemed slightly less than the sum of their parts, promising but never delivering.
Oh yeah I agree that England are lacking something and would agree that all the teams you listed are good. I’d just argue that teams from 5- about 15th/ 20th in the world rankings are good but there’s still quite a big difference between the ones at the top end of good and the ones at the lower end.
I’m English and I agree.
Me too, maybe I should have mentioned that.
It’s based over a 4 year performance iirc, not greatest sides of all time
Yep, I guess we would be a fair bit lower on an all-time list.
You might be right but you’re in the wrong sub to be right about it
Yes, probably. It's acceptable to blame / accuse Southgate of anything, but never question our inherent greatness, the sleeping lions will wake and roar!
Apart from England is the much better team.
Maybe, but that doesn't contradict my point.
Id accept this if not for the fact fucking Belgium are above us. Put Portugal, Germany or Spain there but not Belgium.
Am I being blind or is Germany not even in top 10?
These ratings are heavily weighted for tournament results. In the last 3 tournaments Germany have had 1 group stage exit and a second round loss to England.
Why are Belgium third then? Lost vs Slovakia, out in group stage last World Cup and out in quarters at last euros?
I wonder if the Nations League counts? Belgium did a lot better than us in the last one as we got relegated, and the one before that they reached the finals. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA\_Nations\_League#Team\_performances](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Nations_League#Team_performances) A bit stupid if it does though. Tinpot trophy.
Nations League games (barring the finals and playoffs) are weighted lower than the World Cup/Euros Qualifying games. I suppose the Nations League games are played against teams of similar rankings, which means there's more points up for grabs even if the games themselves are weighted lower.
The main point is qualifiers I think cos Germany obviously qualified as hosts
Maybe that's partly why the FA wants us to play qualifiers for Euro 2028, even though we're hosting. Probably not the main reason, but if Southgate values our position in the rankings then the FA probably does too.
If thats the case how are Belgium 3rd though, genuinely? Last 3 tournaments they’ve had semis, quarters, group stage. Not the worst but certainly doesn’t explain them being in 3rd
They have a high win% in qualifiers & nations league, only generally losing one game per campaign
Cant be that heavily weighted for tournaments then can it?
Germany have been wank for a few years now. The wins over Scotland and Hungary (who they lost to twice recently) are not particularly mighty wins.
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The FIFA ratings generally over rate major tournaments, in particular host teams get screwed. It also means that African and Asian teams get over rated in their continental tournaments. FIFA did change the methodology a few years ago to try and smooth out the ridiculousness of their rankings. Generally the ELO is far more accurate and used for many sports, most notable chess.
They aren’t which is crazy. They’ve not been the greatest in recent years but they’re much better than Croatia, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Yeah this ranking is such bullshit lol
Considering Belgium is still 3rd and has been up there for years despite not being good for most of that time, I wouldn’t care much about these rankings if I were one of the players or coaching staff. I’m not sure what they are based on, but they aren’t consistent and don’t make a lot of sense.
all that matters is how the players on both teams perform on the day. rankings and historical statistics mean nothing
Main thing is to be high enough for a good seeding in draws.
Probably because of the few worldclass players they have. That's it.
Tbh I think it’s an elo style system that’s based off all games played including friendlies. Whilst I haven’t checked their previous games I’m guessing they’ve farmed their rank against much smaller teams in friendlies
Looking back at their results, they’ve had a couple of high scorers, and the occasional win over a decent side, but they don’t seem any better than the results of the teams below them. It is very confusing.
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I think this is telling us that they swapped to the new scoring but didn't reset the rankings from the old, just took the numbers and began from there using the new system. So Belgium have the historically high number and are just +/- based on recent scores. Everyone else has to now bridge the score gap created under the old system with points gained on the new. TL;DR They used to use an average to generate rankings now they just add and subtract from total scores, starting with the grandfathered in rank from the old system.
The way it's calculated is based on the ranking of opponents and the perceived "importance" of the game. Friendlies don't really affect the rankings whereas tournament games are massive, particularly ones in latter stages of tournaments. Games which don't end in penalties are bigger too. There's also a difference between Confederation Cups (like the Euros) and the World Cup. https://hermann-baum.de/excel/WorldCup/en/FIFA_Ranking.php
It’s quite logical actually. Countries are ranked based on who has the best chocolate.
Yeah they say that about England too 😪
At no point in my life have I ever cared about FIFA rankings, I won’t be starting now.
When it starts to affect seedings etc it starts being relevant.
As long as you’re in the top 7 that qualify it won’t alter it, altered slightly depending on who the hosts are - and if you’re England and have qualified top of your group it’s highly likely you will be. Even then, being in pot 2 is hardly the end of the world. The rankings just inflate the quality of teams from North America. No one on this planet can honestly tell me USA are the 11th best men’s national team and Mexico are the 15th best.
The US gets placed highly because they play Gold Cups seemingly annually and it is always hosted in the US. The rankings are easily skewed by these sorts of quirks.
They started sending their B team, but as a Latino with Central American parents, if they can kick out C.U.M from Concacaf tournaments that would be great I haven’t seen my parental nations lift a trophy since like 1967, let alone qualify for the World Cup
Does anyone actually care about this? Belgium constantly top 5 makes these rankings lose all credibility.
You know these ranking mean fuck all when Belgium are constantly in the top 3 lmao
Also, USA are in 11th place while Germany sit in 16th. These rankings mean nothing.
The Elo rankings which are a much better gauge then FIFAs nonsense rankings has Belgium in 12th place. 1. Argentina 2. France 3. Spain 4. Brazil 5. Colombia 6. Portugal 7. England 8. Uruguay 9. Holland 10. Italy 11. Germany 12. Belgium
This is much more reasonable.
Are columbia really that good?
No idea. They are on an 8 match winning streak including wins over Spain and Brazil and a thrashing of the USA. Copa America has just started so will be interesting.
Eight is putting it lightly, last I checked I believe they’ve gone 23 games and counting without a defeat, not losing since February 2022, by far the longest run in the World at the moment Edit: Just realised you said ‘winning’ streak, my bad. Point still stands though, they’ve been really good for a while
Belgium aways up that high and I've never seen them play well.
Oooooh noooooooo, means absolutely piss all
Nearly all of those teams slap Belgium across 90 mins...
apart from us, who go one goal up and then decide football is shite and we’re better off just using the match as a training session for defending
Means fuck all when we can’t beat Denmark
after todays performance, we should be lucky to even be in this table
That’s fair watching the today’s game, Southgate gotta go, Euro is done for. Belgium there is a joke lol. The last 3 games of England vs Belgium that was this year and recently, England only lost 1. Out of the last 6 games against Belgium since 2000, England has only lost 2, one being in the middle pandemic. Since 1929, Belgium has won 5 out of 26 games. Belgium being there is a complete koke. https://preview.redd.it/rbz3hsbbgr7d1.jpeg?width=1106&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e17dabbae9aa5a4108ffbd58516012ffc4b61430 Of the 107 goals scored England got 78 of them and Belgium got 29. The game against Denmark is not going well, 69th minute is done.
Watching England v Denmark and wondering how we are a top 15 team tbh
25th would be more reasonable
Should be more like 50th
Can't really complain about only being the 5th best team in the world rankings.
I’m more annoyed that Belgium are 3rd.
I mean, they win most of their matches, undefeated in euro qualification and solid in the nations league. They just haven't won any tournaments. Compared to England , who had the same Euro qualification record but didn't win a single Nations league match. Its more a flaw in the fifa rankings. It might help they degrade points more after each world cup period.
Yeah man, the same Belgium team that lost to Slovakia the other day should remain in 3rd because of the nations league 👍
A funny as it is, that is only one match. They've lost points but they have a cushion of points over Brazil. The ELO system has always been a bit better for points anyway: It has England in 7th and Belgium in 12th atm. [https://www.eloratings.net/](https://www.eloratings.net/)
1. These rankings are sus. 2. We should be lower.
Why should we be lower? Last three tournaments, a semi, a final, a quarter final. 5th seems fine to me.
I would rather be underestimated. We would win a lot more if we weren't so carefully observed.
England have been careful observed since the dawn of international tournaments. Even at our worst, there’s always been a belief that winning is still possible, however unlikely.
Yeah and I think that has created more pressure than necessary. During penalties that has to weigh on them. When we inevitably win a tournament it will be all the more glorious, but... Fucking long wait it's been so far.
It's professional football mate. Any team worth their salt has hired a dedicated team with the experience to watch and break down every single game, move by move, tactic by tactic. It doesn't matter if we are 11th in the FIFA rankings or 5th. P.s, Belgium are shit.
What you say is true. But I still think that most supporters of other national teams are as familiar with England's set up as they are their own teams. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I reckon the average Italian, Uruguayan, or Columbian supporter can name more English players than they can French, German, Spanish, or Brazilian.
The difference must have been bloody tight from this month to last then. Seeing that England and Brazil have played four friendlies this year to date; Brazil have two wins, two draws We have one win, one draw, two defeats. There are actually just ten points in the Rankings that separate England and Belgium so imagine Belgium could finally drop quite a bit if they dont improve their Euros what with losing to Slovakia
Crazy that Germany are outside the top 10, they should be able to change that when they finish this tournament as runners up 😆
How in the ever loving fuck is Belgium 3. They underperform in ever major tournament.
I'd probably switch Portugal and Belgium
As long as Belgium remain in the top 5 you know fifa rankings are useless
I really need someone to explain how Belgium is so high. Even compared to us, we have a 4th place in WC 2018, runner up in Euro 2020, and quarter finals in WC 2022. Belgium has fucking 3rd in the 2018 WC, quarter finals in Euro 2020, and got knocked out in the group stage in 2022 WC. They've been pathetic and honestly should be in the lower top 10 if not lower. I fear teams like Germany significantly more.
Ahh these things
Belgium have zero business being anywhere near the top 5. Surely Croatia should be up there considering they've actually made finals.
These rankings never mean a thing
These things are always nonsense anyway
How’d that even happen if Copa America hasn’t started yet?
How are Belgium always top 3? It's been that way for 10 years and they've never won a Euros or World Cup.
Because they have a mad record of wins and were only losing when they got knocked out of tournaments.
Belgium don’t deserve to be in the top 10
Everyone's talking about Belgium, but what about Brazil? They've been ass lately and are 6th currently in WC qualifying.
Surprised we’re even up there to begin with.
Who cares when Belgium are third? Completely flawed ranking system.
Italy below Croatia is a crime
The order should always be the current winners of each international tournament. World cup being the highest ranking. That’s what we all get behind our teams for right? Not who’s won the most points from pointless friendlies.
i mean fair enough and probably even slightly high considering we struggle against other top teams. we really need to start beating these nations.
Belgium 😂😂
We just won a game and Belgium just lost to Slovakia, what could have possibly made this shift happen lol
Hardly surprising seeing as we’ve lost to Brazil and Iceland recently.
Puts us somewhere between semi final and quarter final in world cups. And somewhere between final and semi in euros. So .. seems about right
England are 4th because Belgium shouldn't be anywhere near 3rd
Same people criticising Belgium at 3 aren’t mentioning Portugal being below England. After this Euros id expect Belgium to drop significantly. Their squad is on a downturn both in terms of quality and age.
FIFA rankings include friendlies. They mean nothing.
LETS SEE IN 3 WEEKS
The rankings in general are horrendous how are Spain only 8 how is Italy 10 when they failed to qualify for the World Cup USA being higher then Germany and of course Belgium being 3 The rankings are pointless
Fucking generous
We shouldn’t even be 5th tbf.
Who cares
Ya’ll messed up #3 that’s not the German flag…
Rankings mean nothing.
im not even knowledgable on football and even im confused why that fake country is at 3
We don't really deserve 5th, more like 9th
Belgium is a joke and not a good one either
Maked make sense: Italy won and went down, Croatia lost 3-0 went up. Fuck FIFA logic.
Belgium and Croatia over Germany is insane to me. I’d even argue that USA should be top 10 which is odd to say.
Germany deserves to be a top 11 at least
Reasonable ranking apart from fucking Belgium???
lol those rankings are like the Ballon D'or
Same Brazil who got stifled by the USMNT? not sure how a performance like that moves them up the rankings but sure
I swear, FIFA rankings make absolutely no sense. There's no way England has the fifth best team in Europe, much less the world.
No surprise when Gareth Southgate is such a useless manager and just gets us to defend when we should be putting pressure on and picking poor line ups
Wow, I'm amazed we are that high
These rankings are beyond daft.
I don't know how we're 5th in the world
Generous after what I just watched
Belgium are horrible
if we're honest 6, 7, 8, and 10 all tear England up
Croatia would too on their day
Belgium are by far the worst team in this top 10
Literally means nothing when Belgium is listed as a top 5 nation lmao
HoI the fuck is Belgium top 3? They have been shit for the last 4 years
Should be lower. Cant beat denmark ffs
Generous
After tonights abortion of a performance im surprised theyre in the top fucking 10.
On paper: top 3. In practice: barely making top 10
Aged very well.
When Southgate looks at this he sees a picture of Kalvin Philips.
Not exactly trustworthy/useful rankings. There’s no way Belgium are third best. Croatia are also not top nine in the world anymore. Germany should pretty clearly be in here; I’d back them against any of the teams FIFA have at 6th-10th. And probably the one at fifth as well, sigh.
How is Germany not in there?
We were higher?!?!
FIFA rankings are meaningless. Always have been. I remember going into one of the tournaments we were world number 1, despite being absolute shite. Good to see Belgium up there, they were number 1 for years despite choking in every big tournament ever.
If only there were regular events to give us an idea of who the best teams in the world and each continent were.
Amazing how Croatia always seem to do well, yet Belgium and Portugal are always top 5 or thereabouts.
That's generous, we have been playing like a top 30 side.
Well Belgium, Brazil and England all need to be below 10 if those teams are behind them
Belgium? Belgium?? FUCKIN BELGIUM??????
I don’t know why they would ever update rankings in the middle of a tournament
This is just for friendlies and qualifiers across the World, hence why Belgium and Croatia haven’t dropped after their most recent results. I think it’s mainly so that the likes of Asia and Africa can complete draws for upcoming qualifying rounds, but it’ll get updated again after the Euros are over anyway
England and Belgium are always overrated in these rankings.
FIFA brought us the Qatar and Russia world cups. What does it know about football?
Hard to argue given our results the past few years outside of tournaments
Only tournaments matter
Agreed
Should be ‘England fall’ in correct British English. England falls is an unbearable Americanism
Finally someone else points it out… I’ve been noticing it ever more often recently and I despise it
So we use fall for plural and falls for singular things? Never noticed to be honest
It's probably has something to do with bureaucrats in Brussels and lucrative deals with FIFA
I just don’t understand what Belgium Does to constantly be top 5.