Tuesday 13 July 2010

England ranked 13th after World Cup

England were rated the 13th best team of the 32 that competed in South Africa, two places lower than their previous worst ranking of 11th at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. Glenn Hoddle took England to the second round in 1998 but his side were ranked ninth while Sven Goran Eriksson's back-to-back quarter-final exits earned sixth place in both 2002 and 2006.


The ranking system implemented by Fifa takes into account group results, progress in the competition and teams defeated and the latest conclusions are a reflection of a disastrous campaign. The latest failure by an England team on the grand stage has been attributed to a plethora of short term problems including squad unrest, fatigue and the Italian manager's tactical ineptitude [or they're just shit?]. However, further investigation has seen the finger of blame swing in the direction of the Premier League and the failure of clubs in the development and promotion of academy players.