- W1 - victory of the home or first team (at major tournaments this is conditionally the home team). The score can be any: 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 2-1, etc.;
- W2 – victory of the visiting or second team. Also with any score: 1-2, 0-2, 1-3, etc.;
- X—draw outcome. 1-1, 2-2, 0-0, etc.
The scoring system in football is very simple; if a team wins, it gets three points. If the team played in a draw, then each team is given one point, and if the team lost to its opponent, then no points are given to it. This system operates in many countries.
Football has a very simple reward point scheme that ultimately determines the winner.
The highest three points are awarded to the team that wins the match.
Moreover, if at the end of the match the scoreboard shows the same number of points on both sides, then each team will receive one point as an incentive.
First, let's say what outcomes can happen in football:
For a victory in the match, the winning team is awarded three (3) points; for a draw, both teams receive one (1) point; for a loss in the match, no points are given at all.
For example, the match between Russia and England ended with a score of 1:1 and each team received one point. The Russia-Slovakia match ended with a score of 0:2. Our team did not receive any points, but Slovakia earned three points.
The same scoring system is used in all major tours and championships.
Yes, everything is very simple, if you win, you get three points, and if you lose, then you get the steering wheel, that is, zero points. Well, if the match is a draw, then both teams receive one point each, and where does another undivided point go in this case? This is a very interesting question, to which there is no answer.
Previously, two points were awarded for a victory, and in the event of a draw they were divided equally and from a mathematical point of view everything was clear. But in the 90s, they switched to a three-point scoring system to increase the significance of a victory, thereby making matches more uncompromising, and teams in round-robin tournaments deliberately did not play for a draw.
The winning team gets 3 points, the losing team gets 0 points, and the teams that tied get 1 point.
Since the 90s of the 20th century, this system has been adopted - 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw. And the tables also take into account goals scored and conceded; if the teams have an equal number of points based on the main indicators (win, draw, loss), then they look at the difference in goals scored and conceded. The higher place in the final table of group tournaments is occupied by the team with the larger difference. If this indicator is the same, then, in my opinion, the team with more goals scored takes a higher place.
If this is a group stage, then for a victory in football in our time they give 3 points, and for a draw 1, previously they gave 2 for a win and one for a draw. Losing points in football is not encouraged.
Of course, there are also knockout games, and the main thing here is not the points, but who will win in the end, since the loser is automatically eliminated.
In fact, the scoring system in this sport is very simple. Points are awarded based on the results of the game. For winning a match, the winning team receives three points, but the losing team receives nothing. If the match is a draw, then both teams receive one point.
The scoring system in football is quite simple. For winning the match, the team receives 3 points. If they draw - 1 point, and if they lose - 0.
Thus, it is quite possible to calculate and predict the situation, say, of leaving the group.
Not only at the World Cup, but also in any other football matches, a unified scoring system has long been adopted. The winning team receives three points in the standings, and the losing team receives nothing. If the match result is equal, both teams receive one point. It's simple. Good luck.
Points are awarded based on the outcome of the match. Victory, defeat and draw give different amounts of tournament points. A draw is better than a defeat, but worse than a victory. For the latter they give 3 points, for an equal score or lack thereof 1, and for a defeat they do not reward in any way.
In any football championship there are situations when the probability of winning a bet is too high. This is exactly the “gift” that a fight for six points gives.
Let's turn to reason and think a little. Let's try to answer some questions.
Why should every young bettor constantly study championships, analyze this or that situation, and analyze the strategies of successful forecasters? Why is it necessary to do all this, even periodically losing your money to smithereens? To gain experience.
But what is this experience? In knowing those moments, those situations in football, when they occur, you can place a bet with a high probability of winning. Such situations include a match for six points. Why? Let's try to figure it out together.
It is worth paying attention to this picture.
Here you can see that the famous English football team is slightly behind the equally popular capital Tottenham. The London team is three points ahead of Manchester City. And now these rivals met each other in the 22nd round.
As you can see, this confrontation ended in a fighting draw, but in any case, the lagging team did not lose.
But sometimes the gap of one team can be a little larger, reaching 4-5, or even 7-8 points. One can only imagine what the intensity of the struggle will be when these two rivals meet.
And although here Roma lags behind Juventus by as much as 7 points, in any case, this match will have exactly the same character as in the match for six points, only here the emotions will be off the charts with incredible force among the players of the team that is in the position of lagging behind . Nevertheless, there are neighbors in the standings, and if the team that is in a higher place wins, its advantage will increase even more. Therefore, this situation can also be called a battle for six points.
And now the most important thing. As part of the 36th round, Roma hosted Juventus at home. This is how that meeting ended.
With a score of 3:1, the Romans celebrated Victoria. The most powerful, overwhelming motivation of Roma, which was pinned down by its tournament position, played an important role in this battle between the leaders. By the way, these are the odds the bookmakers set for that match.
In general, it is worth noting that when analyzing football matches, it is precisely this situation when the gap between direct neighbors exceeds 3 points (as between Roma and Juventus) that will be the most common situation.
A powerful motivating factor
The fight for six points is between neighbors in the standings. This means that at the time of the head-to-head meeting, such teams have approximately equal game potential. But only when such teams meet in person, one of them is in a significantly worse tournament position, which leaves its mark on the nature of the upcoming match. The closest attention is drawn to the club that is located below its opponent and is 3 or more points behind it.
And here we should make a small division. Still, you need to understand that teams play not only at home, but also away. This means that we should consider those matches when the lagging team is playing at home, and those matches when the team is fighting on the road.
The lagging team hosts the superior opponent at home
When the lagging team plays at home, special attention should be paid to the level of play of the opponents. Still, for a number of reasons, there are situations where teams can be located next to each other, but their level of play varies greatly. This applies more to the upper part of the standings, when not far from the championship leaders there may be just strong middle peasants. It’s worth looking closely at this picture.
The top group of teams is fighting for championship medals and the right to compete in the Champions League; they can be considered among the championship leaders. The group below are strong middle peasants who are trying to force a fight on the leaders and are trying to grab at least the opportunity to take part in the Europa League. The lower part of the teams are simply fighting for registration in the major league. It happens that the outer team from the group of leaders is not much ahead of the top team from the group of strong middle peasants.
And here you should be extremely careful. We are interested in a match for six points between those teams that are part of the same group (leaders, middle peasants or fighting for a place in the tower). If representatives of different groups meet, the outcome of such a meeting can be highly unpredictable. It turns out that within the framework of the issue under consideration, the whole difficulty lies in one point: to find out whether the rivals are in the same group or not.
These teams are part of the same group, they are simply fighting to maintain their registration in the major league.
After, during the analysis of a football championship, a match for six points was discovered, and it was also found out that the teams are in the same group, we move on to the next stage: studying the match itself.
Here it is important to understand the motivation of the players of the team that is lower in the standings. One must imagine the feelings of football players who host at home an opponent of equal strength, but ahead of them by three or more points. In this situation, with equal forces, a strong bias in motivation in favor of the home team plays a decisive role. There is a double bias here: the worse tournament position should be added to the home field factor. It is on the basis of strong emotions that the hosts outplay a guest of equal strength or simply do not lose to him.
Let's look at the match for six points of each selected group (leaders, middle peasants and outsiders).
Battle for six points in the group of leaders and strong middle peasants
It’s worth mentioning right away that the most emotional matches for six points take place among the leaders and outsiders. The former are fighting for championship gold and the right to play in the Champions League, the latter for the opportunity to maintain their registration in the tower. The strong middle peasants are not going to win gold and the Champions League (at best, the Europa League), and they are also not threatened with relegation. All this somewhat diminishes the emotions. Therefore, when considering a group of leaders, it is worth remembering the highly emotional background of their meetings.
Pay attention to this picture here.
It is immediately clear that by the end of the season Arsenal was 5 points behind their nearest neighbor above. In terms of game potential, the teams were equal, but only the home team had off-the-scale motivation, since they needed points to bleed through their noses. And this was the result of the meeting.
Arsenal celebrated the victory with a score of 2:0. The odds for this match were as follows.
Here it was possible to play well with a safety net on the home team's zero handicap.
Above, we looked at two more examples (Manchester City - Tottenham, Roma - Juventus), when the leaders met each other, while one of them was three points or more behind. And here you can find one interesting trend that helps you make really winning bets. The greater the difference in points between two equal opponents exceeds the “3” mark, the more likely the lagging team to win at home is extremely high. Examples with Roma and Arsenal clearly prove the correctness of this judgment.
But it is worth recalling again one of the most important conditions: the opponents must be equal in terms of game potential, and the bettor’s main task is to determine this equality. This task is not entirely simple, but in most cases it is doable.
Battle for six points in the group of outsiders
In the group of outsiders, exactly the same passions are boiling as in the leaders, but we are still talking about maintaining a residence permit in the league. Here you can observe exactly the same situation: when one of the outsiders is strongly pushed against the wall by the tournament position, he enters the field to literally die, but achieve a positive result. Pay attention to this picture here.
In the Italian Championship of the 2016-2017 season, after the 21st round, this tournament situation was observed. The last three teams, clearly in the relegation zone, are far behind their closest rivals from above. And now football fortune has given FC Crotone the opportunity to compete with their closest rival from above in the 22nd round. And this is what came out of it.
Crotone simply destroyed the visiting opponent with a score of 4:1. But before this match, this team played like this.
The only victory over FC Pescara attracts attention, but this team is in last place in the championship.
This example clearly shows how a battle for “six points” can put a great weapon in the hands of a bettor so that he can take away a certain amount of money from the bookmaker into his own account. And this actually works in reality. But now it remains to find out how this rule works in cases where an opponent of equal strength, but lagging behind by 3 or more points, on the contrary, comes to visit an opponent who is ahead of him. Let's figure it out together.
The lagging team visiting the leading opponent
It’s quite an interesting question, so let’s begin to consider it within the group of leaders and strong middle peasants.
It's worth looking at this picture.
This is the 33rd round of the Spanish season 2016-2017. Before this match, the Catalans were three points behind the royal club. If the guests had lost, Real M would have been able to increase their lead to 6 points. But thanks to their victory, Barcelona caught up on points with their main rival from Madrid.
True, FC Real M still has one game left. But in that match there were these odds.
Many placed their bets in favor of the hosts, but in the match for six points, the victory was won by the team that was in a significantly worse tournament position, and yet Barcelona had to play away.
How are things going in the middle group?
The following picture will show the standings of the German Championship for the 2016-2017 season.
You can see how Ingolstadt is 7 points behind Augsburg. And in the 27th round these teams faced each other.
Ingolstadt celebrated the victory with a score of 2:3.
It’s just important to remember one important point: if the odds allow it, then it’s better to play with a safety net. For example, not on a clear victory, but on a zero handicap or a simple non-loss. This is especially true for away matches of lagging teams. For example, in the Augsburg-Ingolstadt match, the odds for a zero handicap made it possible to make a very good bet.
And now at the end of the article we should talk about the most important thing.
There is no one-size-fits-all strategy
The most important thing to remember is that there is no strategy in the world that would guarantee 100% winning of all bets placed over a long distance. A winning strategy is such only because it provides a plus over a long period of time. This means that the amount of money won outweighs the amount lost. Even with the most super winning strategy there will be losses, without this you can’t go anywhere.
The same goes for six-point games. We have considered exactly the situation in which you can place a bet with a high probability of winning. But this does not mean that she will definitely win. It’s just that matches for six points provide an opportunity to be in the black over a long distance, with proper analysis.
Now pay attention to this picture.
This is the standings of the Russian Championship for the 2016-2017 season, which remains in the memory of Russian fans due to the fact that Spartak, after a 16-year break, managed to win the championship title. And many clearly remember how in the 26th round this same Spartak played away against CSKA. But before this match, the army team was 7 points behind the leader. And how did that match end? Like this.
Our rule would not have worked at all, we would have been defeated, the lagging club would have lost even at home. This example shows that there are no perfect strategies. And the most important thing is that the bettor is able to calmly survive this defeat and maintain psychological confidence in his abilities.
Conclusion
The battle for six points opens up great opportunities for bettors, providing an excellent way to beat bookmakers. But success largely depends on the quality of the analysis of the fight and on the psychological stability of the bettor; this is the only way to ensure a plus over a long distance.
Photo: Tabyldy Kadyrbekov / Sputnik
The International Football Federation has approved a new system for calculating the world rankings of national teams. According to the developers, it will allow for a fairer distribution of teams in the FIFA rankings. Now it will be much easier to monitor the movements of the Kyrgyz national team in it, and they themselves have a good chance of improving their positions in it.
According to FIFA head Gianni Infantino, it will be more balanced and logical. It will be introduced immediately after the World Cup in Russia.
What is FIFA ranking?
Before changes were made by FIFA's governing committee, the rankings were updated every month - this will now happen immediately after the match.
It is unlikely that every fan will be able to tell you why the FIFA rating is needed and how it works. Therefore, we will consider this issue in more detail.
What has changed?
It is based on the Elo method - this principle is already used to calculate points in chess and e-sports tournaments. FIFA also tested the new system in women's football and was pleased with the results.
So, what changes await us:
According to FIFA, teams will play more friendlies
In the previous system, strong teams could manipulate the rankings and play a minimum of friendlies to avoid the risk of losing points before the important draw. And if such teams played, they chose very weak opponents.
The new system will encourage teams to play more friendly matches and choose stronger opponents.
FIFA believes that friendly matches are more important than fans realize. Because in such games outside of cups and competitions, coaches can afford to experiment with the composition and discover new talents. Which will further improve the quality of the game around the world.
This gave them the opportunity to avoid friendly matches and not play for long periods between competitions, but still remain at the top of the rankings.
The new system will not use a four-year average. So if a team does not qualify for a tournament (like Italy at the 2018 World Cup), it will fall in the rankings. So FIFA wants to force big teams to play friendly matches more often.
Now the rating will change after each match
FIFA will not set a date for publishing the new rankings. Points will be awarded immediately. This will also help avoid many injustices.
Previously, if a team scored points in a match before the start of the draw, but the rating for the month had not yet been released at that time, it did not receive a fair advantage and was not allocated to the basket it should have been in had the rating been released a little earlier.
FIFA will equalize the coefficients of confederations
This is very important. Now Asian teams at the Asian Cup will score the same number of points as European teams during the European Championship. The confederation coefficient will be removed from the new formula altogether.
Previously, the European (UEFA) and South American (CONMEBOL) confederations had the highest odds. Therefore, in the world rankings, the first 50 places are occupied entirely by European and South American teams. They had an advantage in deriving formulas and received more points for their victories.
It was easier for such teams to qualify, for example, for the World Championship.
Now points will be awarded depending on the importance of the match.
This rule was in effect before, but divided matches only into friendlies and continental championship matches.
With the innovations, the team that wins the semi-finals of the World Cup will fairly receive more points than the one that won the group stage. And for losses at the playoff stage, points in the ranking will no longer be taken away from the team.
Friendly matches will now weigh less. For a win, fewer points will be awarded than before, and for a loss, fewer points will be deducted.
They will be divided into matches according to the official FIFA calendar - teams will receive more for them - and matches outside the calendar (for example, test games before the continental championship) - fewer points will be awarded for them.
The number of points gained/lost will depend on the relative strength of the team
A strong team that loses to a weak team will lose more points than a weak team that loses to a strong team.
The host countries of the FIFA championships will stop unfairly falling in the rankings because they do not participate in the selection process and get into the championship automatically
The new system encourages teams to play more friendly matches. This means, for example, that Qatar will be able to score points in friendly matches before the 2022 World Cup and not get lost at the bottom of the rankings by the time the home championship starts.
points after the match
Match importance index coefficients:
05 – friendly matches outside official FIFA dates
10 – friendly matches on official FIFA dates
15 – Nations League group stage matches
25 – playoffs and final of the League of Nations
25 – World Cup qualifying matches and continental tournaments (Asian Cup, Euro, America's Cup, etc.)
35 – matches of continental tournaments up to the quarter-finals
40 – matches of continental tournaments, starting from the quarter-finals. All FIFA Confederations Cup matches
50 – matches of the final stage of the World Cup up to the quarter-finals
60 – matches of the final stage of the World Cup, starting with the quarter-finals
Match result: victory = 1; draw = 0.5; defeat = 0
The expected result is: 1/(10(- difference in rating/600) + 1)
Kyrgyzstan national football team. Photo: AFC
What will this give to the national team of Kyrgyzstan?
Now the team will be able to rise very well in the rankings through participation in the Asian Cup. Because there will be no gap between the ratings of confederations.
For example, Kyrgyzstan will meet at the 2019 Asian Cup. Let's see how many points a team can earn when facing one of these teams under the new scoring system.
At the start of the Asian championship, the new system will already be introduced, and the rating will most likely change greatly, but we will take the current FIFA rating as a basis. So, if Kyrgyzstan wins the match against China in the group stage of the Asian Cup:
Let's recall the new formula:
Points after the match= points before the match + match importance index * (match result – expected result)
Expected result: 1/(10(60/600)+1)=0,5
Points after the match= 363+35*(1-0.5)=380 and plus 4 lines in the FIFA rankings.
Now the path to the top of the rankings will be open for strong Asian teams, and teams such as Iran and South Korea will no longer be content with a place only within the top 50.
In addition, this will encourage weak teams to play against strong opponents and gain more experience in such matches.
In addition to all other advantages, the new system is more understandable to the common man. She is logical and consistent. Points after each new match are added to those the team already had.
Now fans will be able to easily track the movements of teams in the rankings, without stumbling over complex formulas.
What does the FIFA ranking affect?
The distribution of the baskets depends on where the team is in the ranking at the time of the draw. When drawing lots, teams of equal strength end up in one basket. And teams from the same basket cannot get into the same group.
That is, if a team finds itself in the first, strongest, basket during the draw, then it will no longer face a strong opponent at the group stage. Only those that are weaker. This means it becomes easier to reach the playoff stage.
It's already behind us, so it's worth keeping the changes to FIFA's scoring system in perspective.
In April of this year, the Kyrgyz national team managed to rise to the top spot in the world rankings. She took 75th place and became the team of the month.
After the Azerbaijani national team, the Kyrgyzstanis immediately dropped by 17 lines and now occupy 92nd place.
Asian Cup group stage opponents South Korea, China and the Philippines are ranked 57th, 75th and 115th respectively.
Until the end of the World Cup in Russia, FIFA will count points according to the old system, and immediately after the World Cup it will introduce a new one. The International Football Federation believes that the new formula will be able to ensure a smooth transition from the current rating to the new one, without shifts in the existing table.
It would seem that everything is so obvious and banal that it requires no explanation, but, as it turns out, such things are not so familiar to the people. In both of my prediction blogs, I often come across questions about what card points are or what the difference is between card and yellow card betting options. But, perhaps, this is not so surprising - after all, the ranks of players are constantly growing and for many this is a new thing. That’s why I think it wouldn’t hurt to talk once again about the difference in these similar markets, even though it may seem trivial to some. But this blog has to start somewhere.
Betting on cards in football is very popular and, for sure, most people are interested in it primarily when it comes to derbies and other important games. Then many of those who like to tickle their nerves by betting are ready to pay attention to the market for cards in a line and bet on more. But there are two betting options here - these are cards And yellow cards.
Most yellow cards are given by our bookmakers, and only yellow cards count towards this count. And only those that the player has first in matches. If one of the players received a second yellow card, then it does not count toward the total. The only exception is PariMatch, where the second yellow card counts towards the total, as far as I remember. Other bookmakers, like BetCity, FON and Marathon, for example, count only yellow ones and without a second one for one player, if there was one.
That is why it is very profitable to bet on cards in Western bookmakers, which offer total on cards and all the cards in the match are included in this count - yellow, second yellow, and even red. In this case, a deletion counts as two cards, and a deletion for 2 yellow cards counts as 3 cards. Of course, it is worth noting that in bets on cards the quotes are sometimes slightly lower than in bets on LCDs. However, in this market, when betting on more, the player gets the advantage that more cards are counted than in our bookmakers.
Sometimes, of course, there are significant discrepancies in quotes or totals. But this is far from common, and in such moments you can skip the bet, or consider the choice based on yellow cards.
As for card points, there is also nothing complicated here and such a choice also has an advantage over the yellow card market in the form of a counting advantage. Here, as in the choice of cards, the second yellow and red cards also count. It is believed that everything here is also easy and simple. Each LCD counts for 10 points, each CC for 25, and one player can bring a maximum of 35 points to the total - this, as you understand, is the case if he is sent off from the field for two yellow cards. Do not forget that such totals do not have an expense and it must be beaten. For example, if the total is 45 points, then more than 45 points must be scored. And if you get exactly 45, then it’s a loss.
Thus, we get that for those who play cards for more, it is better to pay attention to those offices where bets on cards or points on cards are accepted. Well, if you want to bet on less, then it is better to play in our bookmakers, where they accept bets only on residential complexes and without taking into account the player’s second yellow cards and deletions.
There are similar markets in bookmakers such as (cards) and WilliamHill, where they accept bets on points on cards. Despite the fact that these offices are blocked in Russia, many players continue to be active there. Well, for fans of legal bookmakers, there are bets where selections are accepted for the total of cards and the total of penalty points (that is, points). Such rates are calculated there based on the rules - as written above.
This is exactly the market for betting on cards in bookmakers. For experienced and regular players, this, of course, is not new, and such guests of this post will probably not learn anything new for themselves. However, for those who are new to this business, I hope the material will be of at least some benefit. I also hope that I explained everything quite clearly. But if those who are not particularly familiar with such markets have questions, then ask.
Legend. Everyone knows what the FIFA rating is - this is the official ranking system for national teams, but it’s unlikely that every fan is ready to immediately talk about how points are awarded. The rating was first applied in 1993, and took its current form in July 2006, when After the World Cup in Germany, the points system was revised.
How points are awarded?
1. 4 years– for such a period, the rating takes into account the results of matches of each national team.
2. Points for the outcome. Basic points for the outcome of the match are awarded according to the following scheme: victory in regular or extra time – 3 points; victory in a penalty shootout – 2 points; defeat in a penalty shootout – 1 point; draw – 1 point; defeat – 0 points.
3. Enemy strength coefficient. Points scored in matches with strong opponents are valued higher, which is logical. So for a positive result against the current leader of the rating they give 200 points. Bonuses for opponents taking places from 2nd to 150th are calculated as follows: 200 points minus the opponent’s place in the standings. Everyone below the 150th line will bring a fixed amount of 50 points to the piggy bank.
4. Match importance factor. FIFA divides all matches into four categories, each assigned a coefficient by which the final amount of points for the game is multiplied. 1 – friendly match, 2.5 – qualifying match for the World Cup or continental tournament; 3 – final stage of the continental tournament and Confederations Cup; 4 – final stage of the World Championship. This is why the Russian national team is rapidly falling in the rankings: our team only plays friendly matches, in which you don’t really “get rich.” But there will be a chance to improve things at the Confederations Cup.
5. Regional coefficient. Due to the different levels of football in different confederations, regional coefficients are applied. At the moment they look like this: Europe – 0.99; South America – 1.0; North and Central America, Africa, Asia and Oceania – 0.85. If there are teams from confederations with different coefficients, then the arithmetic average coefficient for this match is calculated.
6. Recency factor. As mentioned above, the results for the last four years are taken into account, but they are uneven because the emphasis is on the team's recent performance. Matches over the last 12 months – 1.0; from a year to two years ago – 0.5; from two to three years ago – 0.3; from three to four years ago – 0.2.
7. To get the final figure for the rating, you need to calculate the average results for each of the designated periods, multiply by the corresponding coefficients and add.
Example. The most profitable match of the Russian national team over the past year was a draw with England at Euro 2016. If it weren’t for Vasily Berezutsky’s late goal, we would have received the “steering wheel”, and so the sum came out to be a significant one. Let's do the math: we have a base of 1 point for a draw, which we triple due to the importance of the match (coefficient - 3.0, as it is a Euro finals match), and then multiply by the opponent's strength coefficient of 189 (England were 11th in the FIFA rankings: 200 - 11 = 189). It turned out to be 567, all that remains is to multiply by the regional coefficient of 0.99. The total was 561.33 points.
Currently the Argentina national team is in the lead in the FIFA rankings, which is one of all only eight teams ranked first for almost a quarter of a century of the rating’s existence. The remaining seven teams are Brazil, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.
You can earn money for every game from 0 to 2400 points.
- The minimum non-zero number of points per match played is 42.5. This amount will be received by a team that plays a draw with an opponent ranked below 150th, provided that both teams are from regions with a rating of 0.85 (all except Europe and South America).
For victories at the 2014 World Cup over the Spanish national team, the then leader of the FIFA rankings, the teams of the Netherlands and Chile received the maximum possible number of points - 2400 each.
Compared to the January rating, the Russian team lost five positions and dropped to 61st place. This a new anti-record for the domestic national team, the lowest place in history. Five teams ranked above the Russian team: Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Mali, Venezuela, Israel. Five teams that are breathing down our necks: South Africa, Uzbekistan, Montenegro, Honduras, Benin.
- The Russian national team's highest place in the FIFA rankings in history is 3rd. This result was recorded in April and May 1996, when Oleg Ivanovich Romantsev was the head coach. Brazil was in the lead, followed by Germany, and Italy in fourth place. The three best European teams from that ranking met in one group at Euro 1996.
In the 21st century, the Russian team flew the highest under Guus Hiddink: 6th place from June to October 2009.