Why the Canadian men’s spot in FIFA world ranking matters

Recently, while shopping in downtown Toronto, I overhead someone talking on their phone about the men’s FIFA world rankings, where Canada sits, and how high Canada can climb before April’s World Cup draw.

That’s how far the Canadian men’s team has come – from the unseen early rounds of qualifying, to the top of CONCACAF qualification, to positioning in the world rankings.

Let’s break down the team’s ranking, what it means, how high Canada could reach, and how it might affect their spot in the World Cup draw and tournament.  Before FIFA releases its new world ranking this Thursday, Canada is currently sitting 40th – the highest the men’s team has ever been.

Ranking is determined on a points system that gives a certain value to friendly matches, tournament qualifiers, and major tournament matches, while considering the world rankings of the two competing nations. Simply put, winning a World Cup qualifier against a higher-ranked opponent gives Canada more points. 

Last week in World Cup qualifying, Canada beat No. 70 El Salvador, No. 76 Honduras, and most critically, the 11th-ranked Americas. Several sites that attempt to predict FIFA’s rankings are anticipating Canada will rise this week. 

Looking at the current rankings, Canada is already among countries that regularly compete to qualify for the World Cup or major continental tournaments: Hungary (39), Scotland (38), Turkey (37), Nigeria (36), Australia (35) and Russia (34).

Neither Hungary, Scotland, Turkey nor Russia have played significant international matches in the past two months. Nigeria lost to 30th-ranked Tunisia in the Round of 16 of the African Cup of Nations. Australia continues to disappoint in its Asian World Cup qualifying campaign. It is conceivable that