DETAILED RANKING SYSTEM EXPLANATION
1.1 – The OM+ formula:
P=Pbef+(OR-Pbef+R+V)/20*K
– P: New ranking points.
– Pbef: points of the team before the match;
– OR: points of the opponent team (before the match);
– R: Points for the result. These points basically are assigned for a win, a draw or a defeat, but the goal difference is taken into consideration too (+/- 50 points for each goal more scored/conceded). In detail, the values for R are:
win (with goal difference +1): R=400;
draw: R=0;
defeat (with goal difference -1): R=-400;
If the difference respect the opponent is more than 1 goal, R=400+(50*N)(for the winning team) and -400-50*N)(for the losing team), where N is the number of goals exceeding 1.
Particular rule for games ended at extra-times or penalty shoot-out (only for single-leg matches): R=200 for the winning team, -200 for the losing team (half win and half defeat). In two-legged play-offs only the result of the regular times will be considered.
– V: Venue of the match: -50 points for the team playing at home, +50 points for the team playing away, 0 points for both teams if they play on neutral ground;
– K: importance of the match (a list of the values is described below).
1.2 – Minimum limit points exchange:
When the margin of the victory is lower than expected, the formula can return negative points for the winner and positive points for the loser. For our football ranking we chosen not to penalize the winner of a match. In such cases 0 points will be assigned to both the winner and the loser, and the result of the formula will be ignored. This rule is not applied in single-leg matches decided by penalty shoot-out or extra-times. In such cases the winner may have negative points.
1.3 – Competitions and K constants (new constants applied from January 1, 2024):
FIFA WORLD CUP – OLYMPIC GAMES*
1,80 for final matches, semi-final matches and quarter finals matches
1,70 for group stage matches and round of 16 matches
1,20 for the third-place match
1,20 for matches in the qualifiers
* Olympic games and Olympic Games qualifiers are included only for the calculation of the women’s ranking
UEFA EURO, CONMEBOL COPA AMERICA, CONCACAF GOLD CUP, CAF AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS, AFC ASIAN CUP, OFC NATIONS CUP
1,50 for final matches, semi-final matches and quarter finals matches
1,40 for group stage matches and round of 16 matches
1,10 for the third-place match
1,10 for matches in the qualifiers
UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE AND CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE
1,20 final match and semi-finals matches
1,10 for quarter-finals (Concacaf Nations League) and continental qualification play-offs
1,00 for the third-place match in the finals
1,00 for league stage matches and promotion/relegation play-offs
UEFA/CONMEBOL Finalissima
1,20 final match
FRIENDLIES
0,50 – Friendlies and Friendly tournaments inside the international match calendar windows;
0,40 – Friendlies and Friendly tournaments outside the international match calendar windows;
Double validity: if a match is valid for two competitions (i.e. World Cup qualifiers and continental qualifiers), the greater value is applied.
Example of calculation
Match: Team A-Team B 2:0 (continental qualifiers, K=1,10)
Assumption: Team A ranking points = 1626,518; Team B ranking points = 1352,413; Team A playing at home;
Points calculation for Team A:
Pbef = 1626,518
OR = 1352,413
R = 450
V = -50
K = 1,10
P=1626,518+(1352,413-1626,518+450-50)/20*1,10=1633,442 (+6,924)
Points calculation for Team B:
Pbef = 1352,413
OR = 1626,518
R = -450
V = 50
K = 1,10
P=1352,413+(1626,518-1352,413-450+50)/20*1,10=1345,489 (-6,924)
2.1 – Results taken into account
In the calculation, all the games are included between senior national teams full members in one of the six continental confederations (UEFA, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, CAF, AFC, OFC). In general, are excluded from the ranking all the unaffiliated representatives that are inactives for many years and for which the nationality of the players is not verified by an official organization. The games involving teams labelled as A selections by the respective national football associations are included in the calculation. The games involving age-limited teams, B teams or CHAN teams are excluded.
2.2 – Awarded results
As general principle, the results achieved on the pitch will be used for the ranking, and awarded results will be not taken into account.
2.3 – Inclusion of new nations (rookie teams):
A new associated national team will enter for the first time in the ranking with the points of the last ranked team on the same confederation. A team that has played less than 10 match from the first entry, is marked as “rookie” team. The “rookie” teams are identified in the ranking list with the number of games played showed in parenthesis next to the name. When a match involves a “rookie” team, a special rule is applied for the constant K, since the rating of the “rookie” team is considered not yet realistic. For each one of the first ten games played, the rookie team will receive the maximum K constant (1,80) irrespective of the category of the match. The opponents will receive the minimum constant (0,40). In the particular case that two rookie teams are involved in the same match, the constant 1,10 will be used for both of them. The normal calculation will start as soon as the team has played the tenth match.
2.4 – Minimum number of games played
Contrary to other points-exchange systems (like eloratings.net), a national team inactive doesn’t preserve its rating indefinitely. The ranking indeed should represent the actual strenght of each team (or get as close as possible to it), but it’s impossible to know the actual strenght of a team inactive for a long time, because of the lack of the necessary comparison parameters, that are the games. Furthermore, a team inactive has no results at all, so it makes sense if it lose positions respect teams that had recently played.
For these reasons, we will apply penalisations to national teams not reaching the required minimum of 4 international games played per year (the period considered is from 1 january to 31 december). The following penalisations will be applied:
3 games played: -10 points;
2 games played: -20 points;
1 game played: -30 points;
0 games played: -40 points;
For the women ranking, the minimum considered is 3 games. Each missing match is penalizated by 10 points, like the men’s ranking.
The penalisations will be applied once at the end of each year. The rating of the last ranked team is the minimum limit after the penalizations. As a consequence, the team already in the last position cannot be penalized at all, and the the distance in points between the first ranked team and the last ranked team will remain unchanged.
OM+ Football World Ranking 