World Footy News

International Cup 2017 & World Footy News World Rankings

Two new Nations will become fully ranked on WFN World Rankings in the Round one of IC17.

Indonesia’s Garudas and Great Britain’s Swans both play their eighth qualifying International match in Round 1 at this year’s International Cup.

Indonesia will become the 22nd nation to be fully ranked on WFN World Rankings when they play International Footy newcomer Sri Lanka on day one of the IC and if they win as expected will slot into 14th place behind Croatia.

Great Britain will likewise become the 6th nation to be fully ranked on WFN World Rankings (Women) when they tackle Pakistan “Dragoons” in the very first match of the competition on Sunday 6th August. The Swans have proven to be a revelation since bursting onto the International Footy scene, twice defeating and drawing once with Ireland to win the Inaugural Women’s European Championships in 2016. A Swans win over Pakistan will see them enter the ranks (briefly) in 3rd place behind Canada. Further matches during the day will probably see them end the day in 4th or 5th place.

WFN World Ranking Predictions for Round One:

Unlike IC14 where almost all of the opening Round matches were those where the rating gap exceeded 10.00 rating points (when rating gap exceeds 10.00 points no advantage is gained by higher ranked nation and likewise no points are lost by the lower ranked nation) there were little or no points exchanges, and no rises or falls in ranks, all but one of IC17 Round 1 pairings will see points exchanges take place and a number of rises and falls in Rank. Should be a cracker of a round of footy with some close tussles and upsets, pity I’m missing some of the morning’s matches.

Round 1, Match 1: South Africa 6th (49.63 rating points) v. Great Britain 7th (48.38) only previous meeting at IC11 South Africa defeated Great Britain, and if the Lions repeat the dose +/- 2.63 rating points are exchanged and South Africa will jump to 3rd place and the Bulldogs will fall one place to 8th rank. Remember: The Ranking Scheme predicts that higher ranked nations will win more often than not, however, as the rating gap is only 1.25 rating points an upset would see Great Britain rise to 5th and South Africa would fall to eighth.

Round 1, Match 2: Papua New Guinea 2nd (57.66) v. Ireland 4th (53.98). Match up 2-2, who can forget the GF IC14. An Irish victory would see these nations swap places in the ranks (subject to New Zealand v. Nauru result).

Round 1, Match 3: Canada 9th (46.69) v. United States 8th (47.61) Rating gap 0.92, USA has the wood on Canada 14-1 and 3-0 at IC’s. USA win could see them climb to 7th and the Northwind just staying clear of Denmark in 9th. A Canada upset will see a max +/- 3.00 points exchange and a leap to 6th place whilst Revolution falls to 9th place.

Round 1, Match 4: Fiji 13th (40.18) v. France 14th (39.09) Rating gap 1.09, Fiji defeated France in their only match-up at IC11. A Fiji win would see the Tribe climb above Tonga into 12th place and France take a dive to 17th place below Japan. However, a France win will see the Coqs climb to 11th just below Denmark and Fiji fall to 16th place.

Round 1, Match 5: New Zealand 3rd (55.09) v. Nauru 5th (53.30) rating gap 1.79, surprisingly the only meeting of these Pacific Ocean Nations was way back in 1995 at the Arafura Games, New Zealand (Falcons) being victorious. A New Zealand (Hawks) victory would send Nauru down to 7th or eighth, the Hawks remaining in 2nd place. If the Chiefs are victorious a swap of Ranks will occur 5th for 3rd & vv.

Of course, we must remember that all nations currently ranked below France at 14th will fall one place as Indonesia enters the World Ranks as a full member with their first up match v Sri Lanka in Division 2.

We’ll have a look at Division 2 Men and the Ladies Ranking predictions tomorrow.