The Russian national team on the basis of two October matches in the League of Nations has risen even higher in the FIFA rankings. Wards of Stanislav Cherchesov took 41st place, having won back five positions in comparison with the previous list. Contributed to the draw with Sweden and the victory over Turkey. This is the best result of the team over the past two years - in September 2016, the Russians occupied the 38th line.
The national team continued the ascent, which began after the performance at the home world championship. Before him, the Russian team was at a record low for itself 70th place.
This position in the FIFA rankings was due to the fact that for two years the national team played mainly in friendly matches, which, with the old scoring system, were valued very low.
After the FIFA World Cup, I changed the scoring formula. In August, the organization published a rating that took into account the results of the teams that played in the tournament. The Belgian team took the first place, the second was France, Germany fell to the 15th line, and Russia jumped up by 21 points. Each country received base points, to which new ones earned for all subsequent matches are now added or subtracted.
The points that are played in each new game depend on its final result, meeting status (official matches of the World Cup are more important than League of Nations games or friendly matches) and the strength of the opponents. The higher the difference in class between the teams on the field, the more points will be at stake.
After the World Cup, the Russian team held four matches and each time met with teams that had a better position in the FIFA rankings. Wards Cherchesov did not lose, and therefore only scored points. By the base 1410 points added 23 points, which allowed for two months to climb another eight places.
In October, Russia showed the second indicator of growth rates among European teams - only Gibraltar, better than last, played eight positions thanks to victories over Armenia and Liechtenstein.
If you leave only teams from the UEFA zone in the FIFA ranking, then the Russian team takes the 27th place there. Such a low position is due to small “base” points earned in two years of participation in friendly matches. In the latest UEFA rankings, which was taken into account during the draw of the League of Nations, the Russians were 15th.
The FIFA rating is updated every month, but it doesn’t actually play any practical role. Essentially, this list is applied only twice in four years - first during the draw for the qualifying tournaments before the World Cup, and then when teams are distributed in groups directly on the championship.
The selection system for the tournament in Qatar has not yet been determined, but if the rules do not change, the baskets for the draw before the qualification will contain nine teams. Then the Russian team, in order to have the best crop and avoid the strongest rivals in the selection for the World Cup, need to bypass 18 more European teams in the FIFA ranking by July 2019 - at this point you need to score 122 points. While Cherchesov's charges are located in the virtual third basket, from where you can also be selected for the World Cup - Serbia, Sweden and Poland teams that played in Russia have clearly demonstrated this.
Until the end of the year, the Russians will continue to meet with rivals who are located much higher in the FIFA rating, so that further growth is quite possible. First will be the final match of the group stage of the League of Nations with Sweden (17th place), and then a friendly game with Germany (14th place).
In case of victory in the first meeting, Cherchesova wards will earn almost ten points, and with a draw - only two. It’s too early to say how much the match with Germany will cost, as the rating of both teams will change by that time, and the Germans themselves can either go down in the rankings or go up after a home match with the Netherlands.