The further progress of our team, however, is in question.
The Russian national team was completely isolated from world football in the spring. The team was naturally squeezed out of the fight for a ticket to the World Cup, and then completely banned from participating in competitions under the auspices of FIFA. Since the end of March, the Russians have not played a single match at the international level, and the next one is planned only in the fall.
All this, oddly enough, did not prevent our team from rising in the FIFA rankings. Despite the pressure of sanctions, the national team continues to chase the leaders of world football!
And you don’t even have to do anything. Maybe we can go higher?
Mysterious upward movement
The new edition of the FIFA ranking did not record a change of leader: the first is still the Brazilians, the second – Belgium. However, there have been several reshuffles in the top 10. Argentina burst into the top three, displacing the reigning world champions, the French, from there. Spain (6) and Italy (7) changed places, the Danes (10) returned to the top ten. But the Mexicans left the strongest company, dropping to 12th line.
As for the Russian national team, we are still far from the leaders of world football. However, we have become a little closer to the top teams. Our national team has moved up one position in the FIFA rankings and now ranks 35th.
The mysterious upward movement took place in unusual circumstances – our players did not play a single official match during the reporting period. Recall that due to sanctions, Valery Karpin’s wards were deprived of the opportunity to compete in the joints for getting into the World Cup. We didn’t play control games with national teams of other countries either.
Positive changes in the rating have specific reasons. Here you can, of course, joke about the series without defeats, but there is some truth in this. After the November voyage to Croatia, no one really beat our team on the football field. It was this fact that allowed the national team not to lose their points.
We still have 1493 points in our piggy bank – in the case of a hypothetical defeat from the Poles, it would have been less. Competitors whom FIFA did not deprive of the right to hold official matches took advantage of the situation with varying success. Norwegians and Hungarians, for example, approached Russia at a dangerous distance. But the Egyptians collapsed down, losing eight positions at once. Having beaten the team of Guinea, the Pharaohs lost to Ethiopia, and then capitulated in a friendly match to the players of South Korea.
According to the current FIFA ranking system, a victory over a weak opponent does not give so many points. On the other hand, losing to an opponent who occupies a low position decently hits his own rating. It is for this reason that the victory over Guinea (80th place) did not help the Egyptians much to compensate for the loss of Ethiopia (140th).
Benefits of Iran and dangerous India
In the current scenario, the absence of the Russian team in the international arena will not lead to a catastrophic drop in the rankings. Someone will soon pass us, but others will slide down after unsuccessful segments. Thus, in the short term, both small subsidence and minimal upward jumps are possible.
If our players start playing at least friendly matches, the results of which will be taken into account by FIFA, there is a chance to move up by choosing their opponents wisely. Possible victories over Iran (23) or Serbia (25) will allow you to replenish the rating piggy bank, and defeats will not lead to serious consequences. Matches against China (78), Belarus (96) or India (104) in the context of promotion are less interesting, and in certain situations even dangerous.
Match between the national teams of Morocco and Iran / Photo: © Edgar Breshchanov / Vasily Ponomarev / Sportbox.ru
But still, in the long run, isolation will not turn out to be anything good, even if we talk only about the rating component. Do not forget that there is also a UEFA ranking, which is based on success in the Nations League. The lack of game practice in this case will have a negative impact on our positions: in the current draw of this tournament, the Russian team, having not played a single match, was automatically among the losers.
In other words, the sanctions of our team do not bring any benefit. It’s not worth deceiving yourself with today’s successes: after a while, the team may just as well collapse down. Worst of all, the team cannot influence its movement in the rankings and now depends purely on competitors. So the sooner the team finds a way to return to the international arena, the better.
