USWNT Falls Out Of Top Spot In Final 2014 FIFA Rankings
The USWNT is no longer the best team in Women’s soccer. FIFA revealed their final 2014 rankings today and it saw the USWNT fall from first to second. This is the first time the USWNT has not be ranked first since 2008. A feat that is incredibly impressive and hard to match. Does the recent struggles of the USWNT deserve to place them at number two? FIFA certainly thinks it is fair.
FIFA dropped the USWNT only one place and rightfully awarded the number one spot to Germany. The Germans have kept face with the Americans for sometime and finally got a bit of luck and overtook the USWNT.
The USWNT turned in an incredible performance in the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifiers. Going undefeated the entire tournament and not allowing a single goal on top of that. The USWNT outscored their opponents 21-0 during the five games the team played in the tournament. If that is not impressive, then FIFA needs to check themselves.
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Albeit, the teams in CONCACAF, aside from Mexico, are anything to write home about. The USWNT went into the tournament as heavy favorites and proved that point with ease.
So, why would FIFA drop the USWNT one spot after that impressive run? Well, even with the team’s run of form in the Brasília tournament, where the USWNT is 1-1-1 going into the final against Brazil, there still is little reason to move them from the top spot.
Germany is a great team. The Germans beat all 10 teams in their World Cup qualifying run and has only lost one game in recent months to only France back in October during a friendly match.
Similar to the Germans, the USWNT has lost just once in the past few months. The teams only loss coming just a few days ago in a 3-2 defeat against Brazil. Brazil’s superstar attacker, Marta blasted the USWNT for three goals. Some thought this result was surprising, while others thought it was a fair result given the state of the Americans at that point.
If you are looking for a reason to try to understand why the USWNT fell one spot, the only somewhat reasonable thought, is because of their tie against China. Germany has only lost one game in the past few months, the USWNT has lost once and drawn once in that same time.
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Even though the FIFA Rankings are honestly laughable at most and really do not show a true picture of just how talented some of the top teams in the world actually are. For those that follow College Football, no, these FIFA Rankings do not work the same way, because if that were the case, Brazil would be ranked higher because of their recent win over the USWNT.
International soccer is incredibly confusing with how the rankings all shake out, but, that is why FIFA does them and not people like you and I. (If you do have thoughts about how the rankings should change, feel free to post about it below.)
Are you ok with the newest FIFA Rankings having the USWNT in second? Let us know below!