Calculation of points for a single match

The number of points that can be won in a match depends on the following factors:

•      Was the match won or drawn? (M)

•      How important was the match (ranging from a friendly match to a FIFA World Cup™ match)? (I)

•      How strong was the opposing team in terms of ranking position and the confederation to which they belong? (T and C)

These factors are brought together in the following formula to ascertain the total number of points (P).

P = M x I x T x C



The following criteria apply to the calculation of points:

M:        Points for match result

Teams gain 3 points for a victory, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a defeat. In a penalty shoot-out, the winning team gains 2 points and the losing team gains 1 point.

I:          Importance of match

      Friendly match (including small competitions):                                                    I = 1.0

      FIFA World Cup™ qualifier or confederation-level qualifier:                            I = 2.5

      Confederation-level final competition or FIFA Confederations Cup:                I = 3.0

      FIFA World Cup™ final competition:                                                                    I = 4.0

T:        Strength of opposing team

      The strength of the opponents is based on the formula: 200 – the ranking position of the opponents
As an exception to this formula, the team at the top of the ranking is always assigned the value 200 and the teams ranked 150th and below are assigned a minimum value of 50. The ranking position is taken from the opponents’ ranking in the most recently published FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.

C:            Strength of confederation

When calculating matches between teams from different confederations, the mean value of the confederations to which the two competing teams belong is used. The strength of a confederation is calculated on the basis of the number of victories by that confederation at the last three FIFA World Cup™ competitions (see following page). Their values are as follows:

UEFA/CONMEBOL            1.00                            CONCACAF    0.88
AFC/CAF                            0.86                            OFC                  0.85