World Football Elo Ratings
The World Football Elo Ratings is a ranking system for men's national association football teams that is published by the website eloratings.net. It is based on the Elo rating system but includes modifications to take various football-specific variables into account, like the margin of victory, importance of a match, and home field advantage. Other implementations of the Elo rating system are possible and there is no single nor any official Elo ranking for football teams.
Since being developed, the Elo rankings have been found to have the highest predictive capability for football matches. FIFA's official rankings, both the FIFA World Rankings for men and the FIFA Women's World Rankings are based on a modified version of the Elo formula, the men's rankings having switched away from FIFA's own system for matches played since June 2018.
Top 100
The following table shows the top 100 teams in the World Football Elo Ratings as they were on 2 April 2020, using data from the World Football Elo Ratings web site.Each national team's FIFA World Ranking is shown as per the latest release on 9 April 2020.
| AFC | CAF | CONCACAF | CONIFA | CONMEBOL | OFC | UEFA |
| Elo Rank | 1 Year Change | Team | Elo Rating | FIFA Rank |
| 1 | 2 | 2084 | 1 | |
| 2 | 1 | 2082 | 3 | |
| 3 | 1 | 2047 | 2 | |
| 4 | 2028 | 8 | ||
| 5 | 2017 | 14 | ||
| 6 | 3 | 1986 | 7 | |
| 7 | 1 | 1985 | 10 | |
| 8 | 6 | 1969 | 13 | |
| 9 | 3 | 1967 | 9 | |
| 9 | 1 | 1967 | 5 | |
| 11 | 5 | 1965 | 15 | |
| 12 | 7 | 1956 | 4 | |
| 13 | 2 | 1921 | 6 | |
| 14 | 6 | 1905 | 11 | |
| 15 | 4 | 1898 | 12 | |
| 16 | 3 | 1891 | 16 | |
| 17 | 1866 | 21 | ||
| 18 | 2 | 1864 | 17 | |
| 19 | 2 | 1855 | 24 | |
| 20 | 6 | 1830 | 25 | |
| 21 | 4 | 1807 | 17 | |
| 22 | 10 | 1794 | 38 | |
| 23 | 4 | 1791 | 29 | |
| 24 | 1 | 1790 | 19 | |
| 25 | 3 | 1783 | 23 | |
| 26 | 10 | 1779 | 29 | |
| 27 | 3 | 1771 | 41 | |
| 28 | 3 | 1766 | 20 | |
| 29 | 41 | 1746 | 35 | |
| 30 | 4 | 1744 | 28 | |
| 31 | 12 | 1741 | 26 | |
| 32 | 10 | 1739 | 33 | |
| 33 | 7 | 1738 | 41 | |
| 34 | 4 | 1736 | 45 |
| Elo Rank | 1 Year Change | Team | Elo Rating | FIFA Rank |
| 35 | 1 | 1734 | 32 | |
| 36 | 3 | 1730 | 34 | |
| 37 | 7 | 1727 | 22 | |
| 38 | 5 | 1726 | 63 | |
| 39 | 5 | 1723 | 44 | |
| 40 | 5 | 1712 | 42 | |
| 41 | 4 | 1711 | 31 | |
| 42 | 7 | 1701 | 37 | |
| 43 | 3 | 1685 | 39 | |
| 44 | 21 | 1683 | 49 | |
| 45 | 3 | 1678 | 36 | |
| 46 | 17 | 1670 | 55 | |
| 47 | 6 | 1661 | 43 | |
| 48 | 6 | 1653 | 46 | |
| 49 | 1 | 1647 | 58 | |
| 50 | 3 | 1641 | 50 | |
| 51 | 1 | 1633 | 46 | |
| 52 | 9 | 1630 | 62 | |
| 53 | 5 | 1622 | 70 | |
| 53 | 4 | 1622 | 27 | |
| 55 | 1 | 1619 | 52 | |
| 56 | 1 | 1617 | 61 | |
| 57 | 4 | 1608 | 54 | |
| 58 | 10 | 1601 | 73 | |
| 59 | 8 | 1595 | 76 | |
| 60 | 1 | 1585 | 51 | |
| 60 | 11 | 1585 | 48 | |
| 60 | 7 | 1585 | 64 | |
| 63 | 4 | 1580 | 53 | |
| 64 | 9 | 1566 | 85 | |
| 65 | 15 | 1561 | 115 | |
| 66 | 11 | 1560 | 59 | |
| 67 | 12 | 1558 | 86 | |
| 68 | 3 | 1554 | 72 |
| Elo Rank | 1 Year Change | Team | Elo Rating | FIFA Rank |
| 69 | 7 | 1551 | 91 | |
| 70 | 2 | 1546 | 68 | |
| 71 | 9 | 1538 | 93 | |
| 71 | 3 | 1538 | 56 | |
| 73 | 28 | 1534 | 100 | |
| 74 | 9 | 1533 | 72 | |
| 75 | 7 | 1531 | 66 | |
| 76 | 3 | 1529 | 59 | |
| 77 | 14 | 1523 | 64 | |
| 78 | 18 | 1521 | 77 | |
| 79 | 1 | 1520 | 87 | |
| 80 | 16 | 1518 | 81 | |
| 81 | 12 | 1505 | 56 | |
| 82 | 2 | 1501 | 81 | |
| 83 | 3 | 1486 | 122 | |
| 84 | 7 | 1484 | 69 | |
| 85 | 2 | 1483 | 130 | |
| 85 | 11 | 1483 | 79 | |
| 87 | 2 | 1475 | 97 | |
| 88 | 4 | 1467 | 101 | |
| 89 | 15 | 1464 | 82 | |
| 90 | 2 | 1460 | 75 | |
| 90 | 13 | 1460 | 83 | |
| 92 | 1 | 1456 | — | |
| 93 | 7 | 1451 | 102 | |
| 94 | 7 | 1449 | 71 | |
| 95 | 4 | 1446 | — | |
| 96 | 7 | 1434 | 104 | |
| 96 | 6 | 1434 | 74 | |
| 98 | 25 | 1432 | 91 | |
| 99 | 2 | 1429 | 88 | |
| 100 | 2 | 1424 | — | |
| 101 | 3 | 1416 | 147 | |
| 102 | 23 | 1414 | 80 |
List of number-one teams
The following is the list of nations who have achieved the number-one position in the World Football Elo Ratings since the first international match in 1872:| Start Date | Nation | # of days |
| 30 Nov 1872 | ||
| 4 Mar 1876 | ||
| 2 Apr 1892 | ||
| 20 Jul 1902 | ||
| 6 Jun 1908 | ||
| 5 Jun 1914 | ||
| 10 Jun 1914 | / | |
| 6 Jun 1915 | ||
| 8 Oct 1916 | ||
| 28 Aug 1920 | ||
| 29 Aug 1920 | ||
| 5 Sep 1920 | ||
| 18 Sep 1920 | ||
| 9 Oct 1921 | ||
| 25 May 1924 | ||
| 18 Jul 1925 | ||
| 17 Apr 1926 | / | |
| 20 Oct 1926 | ||
| 24 Oct 1926 | ||
| 29 May 1928 | ||
| 30 May 1928 | ||
| 16 Jun 1929 | ||
| 28 Sep 1929 | / | |
| 1 Nov 1929 | ||
| 27 May 1934 | ||
| 7 Jun 1934 | ||
| 5 Dec 1937 | ||
| 5 Jun 1938 | ||
| 25 Feb 1940 | ||
| 18 Jul 1940 | ||
| 1 Dec 1940 | ||
| 26 Jan 1941 | ||
| 29 Jan 1941 | ||
| 19 Apr 1942 | ||
| 25 May 1942 | ||
| 28 Mar 1943 | / | |
| 4 Apr 1943 | ||
| 11 Jul 1943 | / | |
| 6 Jan 1945 | ||
| 11 Feb 1945 | ||
| 15 Feb 1945 | ||
| 7 Jul 1945 | ||
| 11 Nov 1945 | / | |
| 16 Dec 1945 | ||
| 20 Dec 1945 | ||
| 10 Feb 1946 | ||
| 11 May 1947 | / | |
| 9 Nov 1947 | ||
| 9 Oct 1948 | ||
| 9 Apr 1949 |
| Start Date | Nation | # of days |
| 25 Jun 1950 | ||
| 29 Jun 1950 | ||
| 20 Sep 1952 | ||
| 14 Dec 1952 | / | |
| 26 Apr 1953 | ||
| 17 May 1953 | ||
| 3 Apr 1957 | ||
| 6 Apr 1957 | ||
| 12 Jun 1957 | ||
| 15 Sep 1957 | ||
| 23 Sep 1957 | ||
| 6 Oct 1957 | ||
| 12 Jun 1958 | / | |
| 15 Jun 1958 | ||
| 10 Mar 1960 | ||
| 13 Mar 1960 | ||
| 29 Apr 1960 | ||
| 26 May 1960 | ||
| 29 May 1960 | ||
| 31 Mar 1963 | ||
| 11 Oct 1964 | ||
| 25 Nov 1964 | ||
| 4 Jul 1965 | ||
| 29 Aug 1965 | ||
| 7 Sep 1965 | ||
| 15 May 1966 | ||
| 18 May 1966 | ||
| 5 Jun 1966 | ||
| 12 Jul 1966 | ||
| 25 Jul 1966 | ||
| 30 Jul 1966 | ||
| 7 Jun 1970 | ||
| 18 Jun 1972 | / | |
| 28 Jun 1972 | ||
| 9 Jul 1972 | / | |
| 15 Nov 1972 | ||
| 14 Feb 1973 | ||
| 13 Jun 1974 | ||
| 22 Jun 1974 | ||
| 3 Jul 1974 | ||
| 1 Jun 1978 | ||
| 7 Jun 1978 | ||
| 10 Jun 1978 | ||
| 11 Jun 1978 | ||
| 14 Jun 1978 | ||
| 31 Oct 1979 | ||
| 7 Jan 1981 | ||
| 10 Jan 1981 | ||
| 22 Mar 1981 | ||
| 1 Apr 1981 |
| Start Date | Nation | # of days |
| 15 May 1981 | ||
| 14 Oct 1981 | ||
| 14 Jun 1982 | ||
| 13 Oct 1983 | ||
| 12 Sep 1984 | ||
| 2 May 1985 | ||
| 12 Jun 1985 | ||
| 11 Sep 1985 | ||
| 22 Jan 1986 | ||
| 25 Jun 1986 | ||
| 28 Jun 1986 | ||
| 29 Jun 1986 | ||
| 10 Jun 1987 | ||
| 3 Jul 1987 | ||
| 29 Aug 1987 | ||
| 11 Nov 1987 | ||
| 31 Mar 1988 | / | |
| 2 Apr 1988 | ||
| 12 Jun 1988 | ||
| 17 Jun 1988 | ||
| 18 Jun 1988 | ||
| 25 Jun 1988 | ||
| 10 Jun 1990 | / | |
| 12 Jun 1990 | ||
| 19 Jun 1990 | ||
| 24 Jun 1990 | ||
| 18 Jun 1992 | ||
| 21 Jun 1992 | ||
| 26 Jun 1992 | ||
| 9 Sep 1992 | ||
| 14 Oct 1992 | ||
| 16 Oct 1992 | ||
| 19 Jun 1993 | ||
| 24 Jun 1994 | ||
| 27 Jun 1994 | ||
| 9 Jul 1994 | ||
| 16 Jun 1996 | ||
| 19 Jun 1996 | / | |
| 23 Jun 1996 | ||
| 10 Jun 1997 | ||
| 25 Jun 1998 | ||
| 27 Jun 1998 | ||
| 29 Jun 1998 | ||
| 3 Jul 1998 | ||
| 12 Jul 1998 | ||
| 8 Jun 1999 | ||
| 16 Jun 2000 | ||
| 21 Jun 2000 | ||
| 25 Jun 2000 | ||
| 6 Jun 2002 |
| Start Date | Nation | # of days |
| 7 Jun 2002 | ||
| 8 Jun 2002 | ||
| 11 Jun 2002 | ||
| 21 Jun 2002 | ||
| 12 Feb 2003 | ||
| 11 Jun 2003 | / | |
| 19 Jun 2003 | ||
| 10 Sep 2003 | ||
| 27 Jun 2004 | ||
| 1 Jul 2004 | ||
| 18 Aug 2004 | ||
| 4 Jun 2005 | ||
| 8 Jun 2005 | ||
| 29 Jun 2005 | ||
| 9 Oct 2005 | ||
| 12 Oct 2005 | ||
| 4 Jul 2006 | ||
| 16 Aug 2006 | ||
| 7 Oct 2006 | ||
| 6 Feb 2007 | ||
| 7 Feb 2007 | ||
| 27 Jun 2007 | ||
| 11 Jul 2007 | ||
| 15 Jul 2007 | ||
| 13 Jun 2008 | ||
| 21 Jun 2008 | ||
| 24 Jun 2009 | ||
| 29 May 2010 | / | |
| 2 Jun 2010 | ||
| 3 Jun 2010 | ||
| 7 Jun 2010 | / | |
| 8 Jun 2010 | ||
| 15 Jun 2010 | / | |
| 16 Jun 2010 | ||
| 2 Jul 2010 | ||
| 7 Jul 2010 | ||
| 30 Jun 2013 | ||
| 14 Aug 2013 | ||
| 12 Oct 2013 | ||
| 28 Jun 2014 | / | |
| 29 Jun 2014 | ||
| 4 Jul 2014 | ||
| 29 May 2016 | ||
| 10 Nov 2016 | ||
| 5 Oct 2017 | ||
| 10 Nov 2017 | ||
| 15 Jul 2018 | ||
| 11 Oct 2018 | ||
| 16 Nov 2019 |
Ranking by matches played as leader
| Nation | Games | Days as leader | First date as leader | Last date as leader |
| 315 | 8,496 | 12 Jun 1958 | 15 Nov 2019 | |
| 154 | 10,605 | 30 Nov 1872 | 11 Jun 1988 | |
| 139 | 4,704 | 25 Jul 1966 | 9 Nov 2017 | |
| 123 | 9,165 | 20 Jul 1902 | 9 Nov 2016 | |
| 78 | 2,869 | 28 Aug 1920 | 11 Oct 2013 | |
| 73 | 2,022 | 12 Sep 1984 | 10 Oct 2018 | |
| 57 | 1,897 | 20 Sep 1952 | 12 Mar 1960 | |
| 42 | 5,966 | 4 Mar 1876 | 19 Oct 1926 | |
| 41 | 2,694 | 7 Jun 1934 | 15 Aug 2006 | |
| 41 | 1,367 | 21 Mar 1963 | 24 Jun 1988 | |
| 37 | 1,794 | 29 Aug 1920 | 15 Jun 1929 | |
| 32 | 1,039 | 1 Jun 1978 | 3 Jul 2014 | |
| 6 | 676 | 5 Jun 1914 | 7 Oct 1916 | |
| 3 | 11 | 27 May 1934 | 6 Jun 1934 | |
| 2 | 8 | 27 Jun 2004 | 7 Jun 2005 | |
| 1 | 16 Nov 2019 | current |
All-time team highs and lows
The following is a list of national football teams ranked by the highest Elo rating they ever reached. The table also includes the highest ranking as well as the lowest rating and ranking reached by each nation. The team that has achieved the highest rank in each confederation is shown in color.| Rank | Nation | High rating | High rating date | High rank | Low rating / low rank | Low rating date |
| 1 | 2231 | 30 Jun 1954 | 1st | 1527 / 75th | 19 Nov 2003 | |
| 2 | 2223 | 13 Jul 2014 | 1st | 1639 / 24th | 26 Sep 1920 | |
| 3 | 2212 | 9 Sep 1912 | 1st | 1790 / 17th | 31 Mar 1928 | |
| 4 | 2194 | 17 Jun 1962 | 1st | 1813 / 20th | 24 Sep 1922 | |
| 5 | 2165 | 11 Jul 2010 | 1st | 1800 / 19th | 25 Jun 1969 | |
| 6 | 2159 | 3 Apr 1957 | 1st | 1750 / 26th | 8 Jun 1990 | |
| 7 | 2154 | 12 Jul 2014 | 1st | 1550 / 53rd | 24 Oct 1954 | |
| 8 | 2137 | 30 May 2001 | 1st | 1506 / 40th | 18 May 1930 | |
| 9 | 2132 | 11 Jun 1939 | 1st | 1604 / 22nd | 29 Aug 1920 | |
| 10 | 2108 | 13 Jun 1928 | 1st | 1635 / 44th | 5 Sep 1979 | |
| 11 | 2104 | 10 Mar 1888 | 1st | 1600 / 64th | 26 Mar 2005 | |
| 12 | 2088 | 23 Jul 1966 | 1st | 1449 / 49th | 14 Sep 1913 | |
| 13 | 2084 | 19 Nov 2019 | 1st | 1498 / 70th | 29 Mar 1936 | |
| 14 | 2082 | 1 Sep 1974 | 2nd | 1526 / 61st | 26 Aug 1956 | |
| 15 | 2077 | 25 Jun 1916 | 1st | 1536 / 61st | 24 May 1967 | |
| 16 | 2068 | 31 May 1934 | 1st | 1550 / 73rd | 2 Sep 2011 | |
| 17 | 2041 | 26 Jun 2016 | 2nd | 1384 / 60th | 6 Jul 1916 | |
| 18 | 2037 | 27 Jun 2004 | 1st | 1670 / 46th | 4 Sep 2017 | |
| 19 | 2035 | 28 Jun 2014 | 3rd | 1304 / 101st | 13 Mar 1957 | |
| 20 | 2022 | 28 Jul 1966 | 2nd | 1619 / 42nd | 7 Nov 1962 | |
| 21 | 2012 | 2 Jun 1949 | 2nd | 1577 / 45th | 28 May 1922 | |
| 22 | 2010 | 10 Jun 1962 | 3nd | 1515 / 47th | 10 Apr 1927 | |
| 23 | 2005 | 11 Jul 1998 | 5th | 1781 / 26th | 6 Sep 2015 | |
| 24 | 1993 | 22 Jun 1974 | 4th | 1419 / 80th | 24 Oct 1954 | |
| 25 | 1985 | 9 Jun 2016 | 4th | 1495 / 48th | 19 Jul 1930 | |
| 26 | 1954 | 21 Feb 1954 | 5th | 1617 / 44th | 12 Aug 1962 | |
| 27 | 1945 | 9 Jun 1990 | 5th | 1503 / 48th | 1 Sep 1935 | |
| 28 | 1932 | 23 Mar 2019 | 9th | 1490 / 56th | 29 Feb 1920 | |
| 29 | 1930 | 18 Aug 2004 | 7th | 1277 / 84th | 19 Jun 1936 | |
| 30 | 1928 | 13 Jun 2000 | 8th | 1364 / 86th | 2 Jul 1916 | |
| 31 | 1919 | 18 Jun 1994 | 8th | 1538 / 64th | 10 Oct 1971 | |
| 32 | 1916 | 3 Jun 2018 | 10th | 1486 / 76th | 20 Jan 1935 | |
| 33 | 1915 | 17 Nov 2015 | 12th | 1184 / 121th | 25 Apr 1949 | |
| 34 | 1905 | 20 May 1981 | 3rd | 1403 / 84th | 3 Feb 1900 | |
| 35 | 1899 | 19 Jun 2003 | 10th | 1381 / 72nd | 1 Aug 1937 | |
| 36 | 1896 | 15 Jun 1969 | 7th | 1320 / 71st | 10 May 1931 | |
| 36 | 1896 | 15 Aug 2001 | 8th | 1214 / 115th | 27 Aug 1927 | |
| 38 | 1890 | 3 Sep 2005 | 9th | 1417 / 89th | 24 Aug 1975 | |
| 38 | 1890 | 25 Mar 1965 | 10th | 1526 / 68th | 16 Jan 1953 | |
| 40 | 1880 | 14 Dec 1997 | 11th | 1472 / 76th | 29 Nov 1965 |
| Rank | Nation | High rating | High rating date | High rank | Low rating / low rank | Low rating date | ||
| 41 | 1874 | 4 Jan 1963 | 10th | 1393 / 108th | 9 Sep 2007 | |||
| 42 | 1868 | 26 Jan 2013 | 15th | 1497 / 75th | 9 Jan 1983 | |||
| 43 | 1867 | 13 Nov 2014 | 9th | 1495 / 73rd | 22 Mar 1983 | |||
| 44 | 1862 | 30 Oct 1966 | 10th | 1428 / 100th | 14 Jun 2004 | |||
| 45 | 1852 | 26 Jun 2003 | 14th | 1453 / 81st | 31 Jan 1964 | |||
| 46 | 1850 | 24 Apr 1986 | 14th | 1397 / 111th | 11 Oct 2013 | |||
| 47 | 1846 | 15 Nov 2013 | 14th | 1536 / 70th | 29 Mar 1995 | |||
| 48 | 1844 | 19 Jul 1966 | 10th | 1313 / 131st | 8 Jul 2019 | |||
| 49 | 1843 | 22 Jun 2002 | 15th | 1446 / 79th | 7 Aug 1967 | |||
| 50 | 1841 | 9 Oct 2017 | 18th | 1256 / 125th | 29 Aug 1973 | |||
| 51 | 1839 | 24 Jan 2019 | 18th | 1461 / 77th | 11 Dec 1959 | |||
| 52 | 1828 | 22 Jun 2019 | 18th | 1212 / 125th | 19 Aug 1938 | |||
| 53 | 1827 | 5 Jun 2004 | 16th | 1500 / 72nd | 27 De 1964 | |||
| 54 | 1818 | 11 Mar 1976 | 18th | 1512 / 87th | 24 Mar 2013 | |||
| 55 | South Africa | 1817 | 9 Jul 1906 | 8th | 1453 / 96th | 2 Sep 2006 | ||
| 56 | 1812 | 16 Jun 2002 | 21st | 1391 / 105th | 28 Oct 1994 | |||
| 57 | 1807 | 7 Jun 2013 | 20th | 1499 / 80th | 7 Sep 2002 | |||
| 58 | 1793 | 25 Jun 1997 | 21st | 1244 / 84th | 20 Jul 1930 | |||
| 59 | 1789 | 5 Sep 2001 | 23rd | 14 Dec 1969 | 19th | 1392 / 112th | 5 Sep 2010 | |
| 61 | 1776 | 1 Sep 2017 | 17th | 1578 / 67th | 7 Oct 2011 | |||
| 62 | 1774 | 5 Jun 1977 | 22nd | 1307 / 128th | 1 Jun 1996 | |||
| 63 | 1772 | 1 Feb 2019 | 24th | 964 / 161st | 16 Mar 1974 | |||
| 63 | 1772 | 16 Oct 1994 | 25th | 1435 / 91st | 12 Feb 2001 | |||
| 65 | 1770 | 11 Apr 1976 | 23rd | 1426 / 81st | 1 May 1954 | |||
| 66 | 1764 | 13 Sep 1959 | 15th | 757 / 213th | 7 Jun 2016 | |||
| 67 | 1761 | 26 Jan 2006 | 24th | 1436 / 86th | 23 Sep 1987 | |||
| 68 | 1758 | 14 Nov 2001 | 27th | 1516 / 76th | 19 Aug 1998 | |||
| 69 | 1755 | 13 Oct 2001 | 21st | 1444 / 93rd | 29 Aug 1992 | |||
| 70 | 1754 | 24 Jul 2013 | 28th | 1153 / 142nd | 22 Apr 1971 | |||
| 71 | 1752 | 3 Dec 1982 | 24th | 1452 / 98th | 6 Oct 2016 | |||
| 72 | 1746 | 27 Mar 2002 | 14th | 1246 / 120th | 16 Jun 1961 | |||
| 73 | 1733 | 7 Dec 1998 | 28th | 1181 / 137th | 6 Apr 1966 | |||
| 74 | 1732 | 4 Jun 2000 | 25th | 1488 / 90th | 19 Nov 2013 | |||
| 75 | 1729 | 29 Jul 1999 | 30th | 1239 / 128th | 11 Apr 1976 | |||
| 76 | 1725 | 25 Mar 2011 | 34th | 1559 / 72nd | 4 Sep 2016 | |||
| 77 | 1720 | 6 Apr 1994 | 30th | 1414 / 106th | 5 Nov 2016 | |||
| 78 | 1715 | 4 Jun 1971 | 23rd | 1230 / 155th | 16 Oct 2018 | |||
| 79 | 1703 | 9 Feb 1998 | 38th | 1214 / 135th | 16 Mar 1990 | |||
| 80 | 1692 | 15 Jan 2015 | 37th | 982 / 163rd | 3 Apr 1979 |
Average ratings
Time averaged Elo or Elo-like scores are routinely used to compare chess player strengths.Highest average ratings since 1970
This table is a list of the national teams with the highest average Elo score since 1 January 1970, i.e. over approximately the last half century. Before this time intercontinental play was fairly limited and many nations in Africa, North America, and Asia had played too few games yet to create a representative Elo score. Only those teams are displayed that started playing before 1970 and played the entire period without a 5 year or longer interruption. Some excluded strong national football teams, like East-Germany and Croatia, appear in the decades tables below.| Rank | Country | Avg Elo |
| 1 | 2048.9 | |
| 2 | 2018.6 | |
| 3 | 1959.8 | |
| 4 | 1958.0 | |
| 5 | 1954.1 | |
| 6 | 1953.1 | |
| 7 | 1940.8 | |
| 8 | 1928.3 | |
| 9 | 1873.4 | |
| 10 | 1863.1 | |
| 11 | 1858.4 | |
| 12 | 1844.1 | |
| 13 | 1830.4 | |
| 14 | 1817.0 | |
| 15 | 1814.9 |
| Rank | Country | Avg Elo |
| 16 | 1813.3 | |
| 17 | 1811.5 | |
| 18 | 1804.5 | |
| 19 | 1803.5 | |
| 20 | 1769.6 | |
| 21 | 1765.8 | |
| 22 | 1758.7 | |
| 23 | 1752.8 | |
| 24 | 1739.1 | |
| 25 | 1734.0 | |
| 26 | 1731.0 | |
| 27 | 1727.8 | |
| 28 | 1717.6 | |
| 29 | 1711.2 | |
| 30 | 1697.4 |
| Rank | Country | Avg Elo |
| 31 | 1692.3 | |
| 32 | 1691.3 | |
| 33 | 1687.9 | |
| 34 | 1683.0 | |
| 35 | 1681.8 | |
| 36 | 1673.3 | |
| 37 | 1669.9 | |
| 38 | 1669.0 | |
| 39 | 1663.0 | |
| 40 | 1651.9 | |
| 41 | 1645.3 | |
| 42 | 1643.4 | |
| 43 | 1643.1 | |
| 44 | 1639.1 | |
| 45 | 1638.7 |
| Rank | Country | Avg Elo |
| 46 | 1628.6 | |
| 47 | 1628.4 | |
| 48 | 1616.4 | |
| 49 | 1610.9 | |
| 50 | 1602.1 | |
| 51 | 1596.7 | |
| 52 | 1585.7 | |
| 53 | 1582.9 | |
| 54 | 1581.6 | |
| 55 | 1578.8 | |
| 56 | 1576.2 | |
| 57 | 1557.0 | |
| 58 | 1553.7 | |
| 59 | 1550.5 | |
| 60 | 1549.8 |
Averages by decade
The tables below shows the teams with the best average Elo score per decade. Only those teams are displayed that had played before the start of the decade and played at least ten games in the decade.Highest average over entire team history
The eloratings.net website presents the average ratings since the first international match of each team. Such averages can not really be compared to each other, as they represent strengths over different periods and in different pools. For example, they represent years of matches for , years for , years for , and years for . For and the average is dominated by the single rating during the 50 years between the few games played between 1940 and 1943 and the rebirth of the countries in the 1990s. Likewise, 's average is mostly determined by the 44 matches played in the 86 years before it rejoined FIFA in 1992.| Rank | Country | Avg Elo | Trend |
| 1 | 1995 | ||
| 2 | 1983 | ||
| 3 | 1981 | ||
| 4 | 1938 | ||
| 5 | 1911 | ||
| 6 | 1907 | ||
| 7 | 1880 | ||
| 9 | 1876 | ||
| 9 | 1876 | ||
| 10 | 1859 | ||
| 11 | 1840 | ||
| 12 | 1839 | ||
| 13 | 1810 | ||
| 14 | 1797 | ||
| 15 | 1795 |
| Rank | Country | Avg Elo | Trend |
| 16 | 1783 | ||
| 16 | 1782 | ||
| 18 | 1776 | ||
| 18 | 1776 | ||
| 20 | 1755 | ||
| 21 | 1742 | ||
| 22 | 1741 | ||
| 23 | 1724 | ||
| 24 | 1723 | ||
| 25 | 1719 | ||
| 26 | 1709 | ||
| 27 | 1695 | ||
| 28 | 1685 | ||
| 29 | 1681 | ||
| 30 | 1680 |
| Rank | Country | Avg Elo | Trend |
| 31 | 1674 | ||
| 32 | 1671 | ||
| 32 | 1671 | ||
| 34 | 1666 | ||
| 35 | 1664 | ||
| 36 | 1658 | ||
| 37 | 1653 | ||
| 38 | 1652 | ||
| 39 | 1651 | ||
| 40 | 1649 | ||
| 41 | 1647 | ||
| 42 | 1639 | ||
| 42 | 1639 | ||
| 44 | 1637 | ||
| 45 | 1632 |
| Rank | Country | Avg Elo | Trend |
| 46 | 1626 | ||
| 47 | 1625 | ||
| 48 | 1620 | ||
| 49 | 1614 | ||
| 50 | 1613 | ||
| 51 | 1611 | ||
| 52 | 1606 | ||
| 52 | 1606 | ||
| 54 | 1605 | ||
| 55 | 1603 | ||
| 56 | 1602 | ||
| 57 | 1596 | ||
| 58 | 1594 | ||
| 59 | 1592 | ||
| 60 | 1582 |
Highest rated matches
A list of the 25 matches between teams with the highest combined Elo ratings.| Rank | Combined points | Nation 1 | Elo 1 | Nation 2 | Elo 2 | Score | Date | Occasion | Location |
| 1 | 4287 | 2203 | 2084 | 1–0 aet | 2014-07-13 | World Cup Final |  Rio de Janeiro | ||
| 1 | 4287 | 2223 | 2064 | 2–4 | 2014-09-03 | Friendly |  Düsseldorf | ||
| 3 | 4278 | 2230 | 2048 | 2–3 | 1954-07-04 | World Cup Final |  Bern | ||
| 4 | 4263 | 2136 | 2127 | 1–0 aet | 2010-07-11 | World Cup Final |  Johannesburg | ||
| 5 | 4245 | 2184 | 2061 | 4–2 | 1912-07-04 | Olympic Games Final |  Stockholm | ||
| 6 | 4242 | 2120 | 2122 | 1–7 | 2014-07-08 | World Cup SF | Belo Horizonte | ||
| 7 | 4238 | 2114 | 2124 | 0–1 | 1973-06-16 | Friendly |  Berlin | ||
| 8 | 4236 | 2086 | 2150 | 3–0 | 2013-06-30 | Confederations Cup Final | Rio de Janeiro | ||
| 9 | 4224 | 2208 | 2016 | 4–2 | 1954-06-30 | World Cup SF | Lausanne | ||
| 10 | 4223 | 2104 | 2119 | 0–1 | 2018-03-27 | Friendly |  Berlin | ||
| 11 | 4218 | 2180 | 2038 | 4–2 | 1954-06-27 | World Cup QF | Bern | ||
| 12 | 4207 | 2077 | 2130 | 2–1 | 2010-07-02 | World Cup QF | Port Elizabeth | ||
| 13 | 4200 | 2083 | 2117 | 0–0 | 2011-06-04 | Friendly | Goiânia | ||
| 14 | 4199 | 2088 | 2111 | 1–0 | 1982-03-21 | Friendly | Rio de Janeiro | ||
| 15 | 4198 | 2060 | 2138 | 1–1 | 1977-06-12 | Friendly | Rio de Janeiro | ||
| 16 | 4197 | 2123 | 2074 | 2–1 | 1974-07-07 | World Cup Final | Munich | ||
| 17 | 4191 | 2166 | 2025 | 3–1 | 1962-06-17 | World Cup Final |  Santiago | ||
| 17 | 4191 | 2135 | 2056 | 0–1 | 1978-04-05 | Friendly | Hamburg | ||
| 19 | 4187 | 2132 | 2055 | 4–1 | 1970-06-21 | World Cup Final |  Mexico City | ||
| 20 | 4179 | 2110 | 2069 | 1–0 | 2010-07-07 | World Cup SF | Durban | ||
| 20 | 4179 | 2096 | 2083 | 0–0 | 2014-07-09 | World Cup SF | São Paulo | ||
| 22 | 4177 | 2076 | 2101 | 1–2 | 1998-03-25 | Friendly | Stuttgart | ||
| 23 | 4173 | 2097 | 2076 | 1–1 | 1975-05-17 | Friendly | Frankfurt | ||
| 24 | 4172 | 2104 | 2068 | 1–0 | 1974-07-03 | World Cup 2nd round | Frankfurt | ||
| 25 | 4168 | 2141 | 2017 | 3–0 | 1911-10-21 | Friendly |  London |
Biggest upsets
This is a list of matches with the biggest point exchange. Since the importance of the match, the goal differential and the perceived home team advantage are factored in the exchange, these are not necessarily the most surprising wins as expressed by the difference in Elo rating.The nations' points before the matches are given.
| Rank | Point exchange | Nation 1 | Elo 1 | Nation 2 | Elo 2 | Score | Date | Occasion | Location |
| 1 | 98 | 1676 | 1845 | 8–1 | 1924-05-29 | Olympic Games |  Paris | ||
| 2 | 92 | 1824 | 1991 | 7–1 | 1928-06-04 | Olympic Games |  Amsterdam | ||
| 2 | 92 | 1397 | * | 1655 | 4–0 | 1948-08-02 | Olympic Games |  Walthamstow | |
| 4 | 87 | 1478 | 2041 | 3–1 | 1920-08-28 | Olympic Games |  Antwerp | ||
| 5 | 84 | * | 1677 | 1919 | 3–0 | 1924-05-29 | Olympic Games | Paris | |
| 5 | 84 | 1855 | 2003 | 6–1 | 1958-06-15 | World Cup | Helsingborg | ||
| 7 | 83 | 1171 | 1523 | 4–0 | 1980-02-23 | OFC Nations Cup |  Nouméa | ||
| 8 | 82 | 1606 | 2005 | 2–0 | 2006-06-17 | World Cup | Cologne | ||
| 9 | 81 | 2120 | 2122 | 1–7 | 2014-07-08 | World Cup | Belo Horizonte | ||
| 10 | 80 | 1642 | * | 1567 | 16–0 | 1912-07-01 | Olympic Games | Solna | |
| 10 | 80 | 1604 | * | 1668 | 7–0 | 1954-06-20 | World Cup |  Geneva | |
| 10 | 80 | 1481 | 1783 | 4–0 | 1973-12-14 | CONCACAF Championship |  Port-au-Prince | ||
| 10 | 80 | 1677 | 2044 | 2–0 | 2018-06-27 | World Cup |  Kazan | ||
| 14 | 78 | 1685 | 2054 | 3–0 | 1929-11-01 | Copa América |  Buenos Aires | ||
| 14 | 78 | 1587 | 1957 | 3–0 | 1937-01-10 | Copa América | Buenos Aires | ||
| 16 | 77 | 1813 | 2162 | 3–0 | 1959-12-12 | Copa América |  Guayaquil | ||
| 16 | 77 | 1912 | 2090 | 3–0 | 1998-07-04 | World Cup |  Lyon | ||
| 18 | 76 | 1906 | 1714 | 0–2 | 1936-08-07 | Olympic Games |  Berlin | ||
| 18 | 76 | 1717 | 1491 | 1–4 | 1946-03-10 | CCCF Championship |  San José | ||
| 18 | 76 | 1888 | 1788 | 0–5 | 2009-07-26 | CONCACAF Gold Cup |  East Rutherford | ||
| 21 | 75 | 1759 | 2044 | 5–3 | 1948-08-05 | Olympic Games | London | ||
| 21 | 75 | 1336 | 1646 | 3–0 | 1967-01-28 | Copa América |  Montevideo | ||
| 21 | 75 | 1986 | 2109 | 5–1 | 2014-06-13 | World Cup | Salvador | ||
| 24 | 74 | 1800 | 2032 | 4–0 | 1987-07-03 | Copa América | Córdoba | ||
| 25 | 73 | 511 | 758 | 7–0 | 2012-09-09 | Caribbean Cup qualifier |  Fort-de-France |
Elo Ratings before each World Championship
| Champions |
| Runners-up |
| Third place |
| Fourth place |
| Not qualified / not entered |
| Disqualified / withdrew |
History and overview
The Elo system, developed by Hungarian-American mathematician Árpád Élő, is used by FIDE, the international chess federation, to rate chess players, and by the European Go Federation, to rate Go players. In 1997, Bob Runyan adapted the Elo rating system to international football and posted the results on the Internet. He was also the first maintainer of the World Football Elo Ratings web site, currently maintained by Kirill Bulygin. Other implementations of the Elo rating system are possible but the Runyan system is the best known.The Elo system was adapted for football by adding a weighting for the kind of match, an adjustment for the home team advantage, and an adjustment for goal difference in the match result.
The factors taken into consideration when calculating a team's new rating are:
- The team's old rating
- The considered weight of the tournament
- The goal difference of the match
- The result of the match
- The expected result of the match
- World Cup Finals
- Continental championships finals and Intercontinental tournaments
- World Cup and Continental championship qualifiers
- All other tournaments
- Friendly matches
Comparison with other systems
A 2009 comparative study of eight methods found that the implementation of the Elo rating system described below had the highest predictive capability for football matches, while the men's FIFA ranking method performed poorly.The FIFA World Rankings is the official national teams rating system used by the international governing body of football. The FIFA Women's World Rankings system has used a modified version of the Elo formula since 2003. In June 2018, the FIFA ranking switched to an Elo-based ranking as well, starting from the current FIFA rating points. The major difference between the World Football Elo Rating and the new men's FIFA rating system is that the latter does not consider goal differential and counts a penalty shoot-out as a win/loss rather than a draw; thus, a 7:0 blowout is considered equal to a 7:6 penalty shoot-out win. The FIFA method is also less sensitive to the difference in ratings and more sensitive to match status. Finally, World Football Elo Ratings considers all official international matches for which results are available, including those involving "unaffiliated" teams that are not a member of FIFA.
Calculation principles
The ratings are based on the following formulae:where
Where;
"Points Change" is rounded to the nearest integer before updating the team rating.
Status of match
The status of the match is incorporated by the use of a weight constant. The constant reflects the importance of a match, which, in turn, is determined entirely by which tournament the match is in; the weight constant for each major tournament is:| Tournament or Match type | K |
| World Cup, Olympic Games | 60 |
| Continental championship and intercontinental tournaments | 50 |
| World Cup and Continental qualifiers and major tournaments | 40 |
| All other tournaments | 30 |
| Friendly matches | 20 |
The FIFA adaptation of the Elo rating will feature 8 weights, with the knockout stages in the World Cup weighing 12x more than some friendly matches.
Number of goals
The number of goals is taken into account by use of a goal difference index.If the game is a draw or is won by one goal
If the game is won by two goals
If the game is won by three or more goals:
- Where N is the goal difference
| Goal Difference | 0 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +6 | +7 | +8 | +9 | +10 |
| G | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | 1.75 | 1.875 | 2 | 2.125 | 2.25 | 2.375 | 2.5 | 2.625 |
Result of match
W is the result of the game. This also holds when a game is won or lost on extra time. If the match is decided on penalties, however, the result of the game is considered a draw.Expected result of match
We is the expected result from the following formula:where dr equals the difference in ratings. So dr of 0 gives 0.5, of 120 gives 0.666 to the higher-ranked team and 0.334 to the lower, and of 800 gives 0.99 to the higher-ranked team and 0.01 to the lower.
The FIFA adaptation of the Elo rating does not incorporate a home team advantage and has a larger divisor in the formula, making the points exchange less sensitive to the rating difference of two teams.
Examples for clarification
The same example of a three-team friendly tournament on neutral territory is used as on the FIFA World Rankings page. Beforehand team A had a rating of 630 points, team B 500 points, and teams C 480 points.The first table shows the points allocations based on three possible outcomes of the match between the strongest team A, and the somewhat weaker team B:
When the difference in strength between the two teams is less, so also will be the difference in points allocation. The next table illustrates how the points would be divided following the same results as above, but with two roughly equally ranked teams, B and C, being involved:
Team B drops more points by losing to Team C, which has shown about the same strength, than by losing to Team A, which has been considerably better than Team B.