Spain finish 2012 on top, Colombia in 5th

The top ten may have remained the same, but there were a few shuffles elsewhere on 2012’s last instalment of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. Spain will finish the year at the summit for the fifth time in succession – an achievement which earns them the ‘Team of the Year’ title – followed by Germany, Argentina and Italy (4th, up 1). The ‘Mover of the Year’ goes to Colombia for the second time since the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking was introduced in 1993. Los Cafeteros finished 2011 in 36th, but thanks to six wins, one draw and only one defeat thereafter – and the 455 points they consequently earned – they end 2012 in fifth. It has also been a very successful year for Ecuador (13th, up 365 points since December 2011) and Mali (25th, up 337 points since December 2011). Over the course of the year, the regional composition of the top 50 has only slightly changed: whereas the number of teams from UEFA (27 teams in the top 50), CONMEBOL (9), CONCACAF (3) and the OFC (0) remained the same, CAF (8, plus 1) finished the year with one team more in the top 50, at the expense of the AFC (3, minus 1). The results of 143 internationals have been taken into account for the current edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. In total in 2012, the results of 900 matches have been taken into account, more than half of which were friendlies (465, 52 per cent) and more than a quarter of which were qualifying matches for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ (257, 29 cent). The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 17 January 2013.