New FIFA rankings

The USA has surprisingly remained in 6th, as the August rankings have just been posted. There is a big gap between us and England at 7th. This is a big deal because the rankings play a big part in determing the World Cup seeds. Much like the UEFA coefficients (see here), the media hasn't given this much attention. There is a slight chance of being seeded in the 2006 World Cup (assuming the system isn't changed), but it is unlikely. There are nine teams in front of us. If two of England/France/Italy/Netherlands/Spain fail to qualify, then we'll be in. If one fails to qualify, there is a chance of being ahead of the Netherlands for the final spot. Basically, we want those five teams to lose every game, including the friendlies today (and we want the four locks in front of us, Argentina/Brazil/Germany/Mexico to win every game). Beating Mexico next month would be huge, and surely put us in front of them in the rankings. (see the multiple threads about this on Bigsoccer here) The top ranked teams by confederation are Brazil, Netherlands, Mexico, Iran, Egypt, and Austalia. I have figured out which teams have been the number one team in their confederation since the rankings were introduced, in 1993. The formula was changed in 1999 (I believe), to make it more detailed. I should warn you though, that until a few years ago, I noticed that some teams would have the same amount of points but not show up as being tied in the rankings. One team would be ranked ahead, on FIFA's site. I'm not sure if this was alphabetical or what, so it might be a little off. I could go back and look for instances where the top teams were tied, but I didn't discover that until I was almost done, so I'll worry about it later. I have counted the reigns where the teams were tied since then. (BTW, interesting that England has never been the top team in UEFA) CONCACAF 1) Mexico (8/93-6/03) 2) United States (6/03-7/03) 3) Mexico (7/03-current) CONMEBOL 1) Argentina (8/93-9/93) 2) Brazil (9/93-11/01) 3) Argentina (11/01-4/02) 4) Brazil (4/02-current) OFC 1) Australia (8/93-12/02) 2) New Zealand (12/02-2/03) 3) Australia (2/03-7/03) 4) New Zealand (7/03-9/03) 5) Australia (9/03-current) CAF 1) Nigeria (8/93-7/95) 2) Tunisia (7/95-8/95) 3) Egypt (8/95-9/95) 4) Nigeria (9/95-10/95) 5) Egypt (10/95-11/95) 6) Tunisia (11/95-12/95) 7) Ivory Coast (12/95-1/96) 8) Ghana (1/96-2/96) 9) Zambia (2/96-12/96) 10) Ghana (4/96-5/96) 11) South Africa (12/96-2/97) 12) Ghana (2/97-5/97) 13) Morocco (5/97-2/00) 14) South Africa (2/00-7/01) 15) Tunisia (7/01-2/02) 16) Cameroon (2/02-10/04) 17) Nigeria (10/04-6/05) 18) Cameroon (6/05-7/05) 19) Egypt (7/05-current) AFC 1) South Korea (8/93-11/93) 2) Saudi Arabia (11/93-8/95) 3) Japan (8/95-9/95) 4) Saudi Arabia (9/95-10/95) 5) Japan (10/95-7/98) 6) South Korea (7/98-1/99) 7) Japan (1/99-2/99) 8) South Korea (2/99-8/99) 9) Saudi Arabia (8/99-4/00) 10) South Korea (4/00-6/00) 11) Iran (6/00-7/00) 12) South Korea (7/00-10/00) 13) Iran (10/00-11/00) 14) Japan (11/00-12/00) 15) Saudi Arabia (12/00-1/01) 16) Iran (1/01-2/01) 17) Saudi Arabia (2/01-8/01) 18) Japan (8/01-11/01) 19) Iran (11/01-7/02) 20) South Korea (7/02-7/03) 21) Japan (6/03-10/03) 22) South Korea (10/03-4/04) 23) Iran (4/04-7/04) 24) South Korea (7/04-8/04) 25) Japan (8/04-6/05) 26) Iran (6/05-7/05) 27) Japan (7/05-8/05) 28) Iran (8/05-current) UEFA 1) Germany (8/93-9/93) 2) Italy (9/93-10/93) 3) Norway (10/93-11/93) 4) Italy (11/93-12/93) 5) Germany (12/93-7/94) 6) Italy (7/94-11/94) 7) Sweden (11/94-12/94) 8) Spain (12/94-4/95) 9) Italy (4/95-7/95) 10) Norway (7/95-9/95) 11) Italy (9/95-10/95) 12) Spain (10/95-11/95) 13) Germany (11/95-2/96) 14) Italy (2/96-4/96) 15) Germany (4/96-7/96) 16) Spain (7/96-9/96) 17) Germany (9/96-10/96) 18) Spain (10/96-11/96) 19) Germany (11/96-7/98) 20) France (7/98-9/99) 21) Czech Republic (9/99-11/99) 22) France (11/99-12/99) 23) Czech Republic (12/99-6/00) 24) France (6/00-8/02) 25) Spain (8/02-9/02) 26) France (9/02-3/03) 27) Spain (3/03-6/03) 28) France (5/03-4/05) 29) Czech Republic (4/05-7/05) 30) Netherlands (7/05-current)