Scotland’s Place in the Footballing World

Scotland, we’re a nation of dour detractors aren’t we?  And there is no bigger collective hate figure for our national cynicism than our national sport of football.  We’ve had nothing to praise or shout about for sixteen years some will tell you, and some will even go further to say that we haven’t had any real success as a footballing nation since the eighties, when Aberdeen won the Cup Winners’ Cup , or even further back to the 1978 World Cup where we believed that Ally MacLeod could actually take us further than the Group Stage.  I’ve grown up with this national pessimism and taken it on board.  But Scotland’s recent resurgence in internationals and the glimpse of a summer trip to France in two years has led me to look into Scotland’s place in the world of football – are we really as bad as we say we are?  The answer is no – we’re actually doing quite well.

There is no denying that Scotland and its’ clubs have been more successful in the past than at present but our national team, our leagues and our clubs are still performing at a far higher level than would be expected of a country of our size.  I’ve looked at many different metrics of footballing achievement and tallied them alongside population to see how Scotland, and the other countries of Europe and the world, are over-performing or under-performing based on their population. I’ve tried to include other relevant countries you can use as a benchmark of how we are doing in tables along the way, with a focus on Scotland and our largest neighbour, England.

Here’s a quick table of all of my comparisons so you can quickly jump to them:

FIFA World Rankings vs. Population

FIFA World Rankings vs. Population & Age of National Football Association

World Football ELO Ratings vs. Population

World Cup Appearances per capita

European Championship Appearances per capita

Attendances vs. Population

UEFA League Co-efficient vs. Population

European Cup/Champions League Wins & Finals vs. Population

European Club Competition Wins vs. Population

Conclusion

FIFA World Rankings vs. Population

Looking at the FIFA World Ranking and you will find Scotland in 37^th in the world.  Some will baulk at the fact we are behind Honduras and only a few places above Armenia – but these rankings don’t tell the full story.  Scotland’s population is only the 117^th highest out of FIFA’s 209 members, so we are in effect 80 places higher than we should be by population.  This makes us the 15^th most over-performing country in the world. Here’s a few of the key countries in terms of under-performing and over-performing:

Rank		Fifa World Ranking	Population Ranking	Difference
1	Cape Verde Islands	33	173	140
2	Uruguay	6	136	130
3	Iceland	52	178	126
12	Wales	49	138	89
15	Scotland	37	117	80
77	Spain	1	28	27
97	England	12	24	12
127	Brazil	9	5	-4
179	Kazakhstan	127	61	-66
191	China	98	1	-97
209	Bangladesh	162	8	-154

The full table with all 209 FIFA nations is on page 2 of this post.

FIFA World Rankings vs. Population & Age of National Football Association

A common argument against using the measure I have above is that a nation’s footballing achievement can’t necessarily be squared off along lines of population – as some countries (like ourselves) have played football for a lot longer than others.  So I created a composite ranking taking the average of both nations’ population rank and a ranking of how old their football association is, and still Scotland are over-performing – being 44^th on the combination ranking, 7 places below their current World Ranking:

Rank		Fifa World Ranking	Combination Rank.	Difference
1	Bosnia-Herzegovina	21	179	158
2	Cape Verde Islands	33	191	158
85	Spain	1	11	10
88	Wales	49	58	9
94	Scotland	37	44	7
110	Brazil	9	10	1
139	England	12	1	-11
147	Northern Ireland	86	70	-16
175	Poland	73	22	-51
209	Indonesia	154	6	-148

You can find the full table with all 209 FIFA nations on page 3 of this post, and see exactly how the composite ranking is formed on page 9.

World Football ELO Ratings vs. Population

Some disagree with the FIFA World Rankings’ method and prefer the World Football ELO Ratings. Scotland are ranked 39^th in that ranking, lower than in FIFA’s version, although if you tabulate all countries’ difference between their population and world ranking you will find that Scotland are actually the 13^th most over-performing country in the world:

Rank		World F’ball ELO Rating	Population Ranking	Difference
1	Uruguay	9	136	127
2	Montenegro	60	168	108
13	Scotland	39	117	78
71	Spain	2	28	26
80	England	6	24	18
100	Brazil	1	5	4
174	Kazakhstan	124	61	-63
183	China	72	1	-71
209	Pakistan	192	6	-186

You can find the full table, along with the source and credit, on page 4 of this post.

World Cup Appearances per capita

Of course our success in major championships has been documented to be one of the best records around for a country of our size.  We are the 3^rd most over-performing country in the world in terms of population per World Cup appearances, with only Uruguay, a team that has won the trophy twice and is perhaps the most over-performing country in footballing history, and Northern Ireland ahead of us.

Rank		World Cup Apps.	Population	Pop. Per App
1	Uruguay	12	3,286,314	273,860
2	Northern Ireland	3	1,810,863	603,621
3	Scotland	8	5,295,000	661,875
34	Spain	14	46,704,314	3,336,022
37	England	14	53,012,456	3,786,604
57	Brazil	20	201,032,714	10,051,636
77	China	1	1,360,720,000	As left

You can find the full list of nations that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup and their per capita ranking at the top of page 5 of this post.

European Championship Appearances per capita

Although we’ve only made it to two European Championships, we are the 10^th most over-performing nation out of the 28 that have qualified for one of the tournaments.

Rank		Euro Champ Apps.	Population	Pop. Per App
1	Denmark	8	5,627,235	703,404
2	Croatia	4	4,290,612	1,072,653
9	Republic of Ireland	2	4,593,100	2,296,550
10	Scotland	2	5,295,000	2,647,500
19	Spain	9	46,704,314	5,189,368
20	England	8	53,012,456	6,626,557
21	Germany	11	80,619,000	7,329,000
28	Ukraine	1	45,426,200	As left

You can find the full list of European Championships per capita on the bottom half of page 5 of this post.

Attendances vs. Population

A common criticism of the Scottish game that attendances aren’t what they should be but if you look at the numbers and compare them to other countries’ then they don’t look nearly as bad.  Combining the latest two figures available for the Scottish Premier League and First Division (admittedly a few years ago with Rangers in the SPL and with different seasons quoted for each division) and you’ll find the total attendance of both leagues equates to 68% of Scotland’s population.  The nearest any country with their top two leagues’ attendances quoted is England, with only an equivalent of 44% of their population attending games:

Combined Top 2 Tier attendances:

Rank		Season(s)	Total Attendance	Att. As % of Pop.
1	Scotland	2011/12-2010/11	3,613,294	68.24%
2	England	2012/13-2011/12	23,445,598	44.23%
3	Netherlands	2011/12	7,245,529	43.02%
4	Spain	2011/12-2010/11	15,252,311	32.66%
6	Germany	2012/13-2011/12	18,321,929	22.73%
12	Brazil	2013	7,632,648	3.80%
14	China	2013-2009	5,128,770	0.38%

The Scottish Premier League’s total attendance for the 2011/12 season was bettered only by Cyprus’ First Division the year before in terms of attendance per population:

Top Tier Attendances:

Rank		Season(s)	Total Attendance	Att. As % of Pop.
1	Cyprus	2009/10	555,840	64.19%
2	Scotland	2011/12	3,160,414	59.69%
8	England	2012/13	13,653,908	25.76%
12	Spain	2011/12	11,504,567	24.63%
17	Germany	2012/13	13,038,533	16.17%
59	Brazil	2013	5,682,868	2.83%
64	MLS (USA/Canada)	2013	6,005,991	1.89%
68	China	2013	4,456,977	0.33%

The First Division, perhaps Scotland’s most exciting league, was only behind England’s Championship in being the highest second tier attendance per population in the world:

Second Tier Attendances:

Rank		Season(s)	Total Attendance	Att. As % of Pop.
1	England	2011/12	9,791,690	18.47%
2	Scotland	2010/11	452,880	8.55%
3	Spain	2010/11	3,747,744	8.02%
5	Germany	2011/12	5,283,396	6.55%
12	Brazil	2013	1,949,780	0.97%
14	China	2009	671,793	0.05%

Comprehensive attendance statistics and full tables for all three of these measures can be found on page 6 of this post.

UEFA League Co-efficient vs. Population

Poor performances in European competitions by our clubs in recent years, other than some Old Firm forays into the Champions League Last 16, has meant that our much discussed league co-efficient has nose-dived, leaving Scotland’s top division ranked 23^rd in Europe out of 54.  Comparing this ranking with our population ranking within the continent, though, shows that our league is the still the 11^th most over-performing league.

Rank		League Ranking	Population Ranking	Difference
1	Cyprus	18	45	27
10	Spain	1	7	6
11	Scotland	23	29	6
14	England	2	6	4
28	Germany	3	2	-1
52	Wales	48	36	-12
54	Kazakhstan	34	11	-23

A full table of UEFA co-efficients vs. Population can be found on page 7 of this post.

European Cup/Champions League Wins & Finals vs. Population

Our clubs’ successes in Europe, primarily in the 60s, 70s and 80s have seen us more than hold our own in terms of European club football history.  We are still the smallest nation to have had a European Cup winner, with Celtic’s famous Lisbon Lions taking home the trophy in 1967.  13 countries have been represented in a European Cup final and we have the 5^th lowest population per final reached (with 2) and 6^th lowest population per final won.

Per Win Rank	Per Final Rank		Population	Wins	Finals	Pop. per Win	Pop. per Final
1	1	Portugal	10,487,289	4	9	2,621,822	1,165,254
3	3	Spain	46,704,314	13	22	3,592,640	2,122,923
4	6	England	53,012,456	12	19	4,417,705	2,790,129
6	5	Scotland	5,295,000	1	2	5,295,000	2,647,500
7	7	Germany	80,619,000	7	17	11,517,000	4,742,294
9	13	Yugoslavia	23,724,919	1	2	23,724,919	11,862,460
10	11	France	65,844,000	1	6	65,844,000	10,974,000

The full table, including all nations to have been represented in a European Cup/Champions League Final is at the top of page 8 of this post.

European Club Competition Wins vs. Population

When you take into account Cup Winners’ Cups and Europa Leagues (and its’ predecessors) we are ranked even higher, with our 3 trophy wins meaning we have the 4^th lowest population per trophy win behind Portugal, Holland and Spain (and ahead of England).

(Update – After a Twitter request I looked into the figures if Super Cup Wins were included as well and found that Scotland would still be in 4th place with 4 total trophy wins and a Population per Win of 1,323,750 which would place us behind the Netherlands in 1st, Spain in 2nd and Portugal in 3rd place)

Rank		Total Wins	Population	Pop. Per Win
1	Portugal	7	10,487,289	616,899
3	Spain	27	46,704,314	2,747,313
4	Scotland	3	5,295,000	1,765,000
5	England	27	53,012,456	1,963,424
9	Germany	17	80,619,000	4,742,294
16	France	2	65,844,000	32,922,000
17	Russia	2	143,700,000	71,850,000

The full table of per capita European club competition wins is at the bottom of page 8 of this post.

Conclusion

With our performances in each of these criteria it’s easy to deduce that Scotland is punching above its weight big time at the moment, easily being one of the most over-performing nations in Europe and the world.  We are a small nation that has been, and still is, capable of great things: even on the football pitch.  Of course these statistics need to be taken with a pinch of salt, but they do shine a more positive light on what is often portrayed as a bleak sporting landscape.  Here’s an overview of Scotland’s place in the footballing world, with the percentile showing the percentage of teams doing better than us in that metric:

	Rank	Total Teams	Percentile
Top Tier Attendance	2	67	3%
World Cup Apps, per capita	3	77	4%
ELO Ranking vs. Pop.	13	209	6%
Top 2 Tiers Attendance	1	14	7%
FIFA World Ranking vs. Pop.	15	209	7%
UEFA League Coef. Vs. Pop.	11	54	20%
Euro Comp. Wins per capita	4	18	22%
Euro. Champ Apps per capita	10	28	36%
European Cup Finals	5	13	38%
European Cup Wins	6	10	60%

For anyone interested in the raw statistics of these conclusions (and why wouldn’t you be?) you can find the full, unabridged tables I created/used on the next few pages, along with the sources and credits for the information.  Here’s what’s on each page:

Page	Information
2	FIFA World Rankings vs. Population Rank
3	FIFA World Rankings vs. Population/F.A. Age Rank
4	World Football ELO Ratings vs. Population
5	World Cup appearances per capita
	European C’ship appearances per capita
6	Attendance figures of National Football Leagues
7	UEFA League Co-efficients vs. Population Rank
8	European Cup Wins/Finals per capita
	European club tournament Wins per capita
9	Population Rank
	National Football Associations Age Rank
	Combination (Pop. & F.A.) Rank

Thanks very much for reading, and hopefully you are left with a sunnier view of Scottish football in the grand scheme of things.  If you have any feedback, comments or even disagreements with this post please feel free to leave a comment.

FIFA World Rankings vs. Population

The following is the table of FIFA nations ranked by the difference between their FIFA World Ranking position and their ranking in terms of population (which can be found here).  The list is sorted by the difference from largest to smallest, and then by FIFA World Ranking from highest to lowest.  All FIFA World Ranking data is courtesy of their latest rankings on the 13^th of March 2014.

Rank	Country	FIFA Rank	Pop. Rank	Change
1	Cape Verde Islands	33	173	140
2	Uruguay	6	136	130
3	Iceland	52	178	126
4	Montenegro	46	168	122
5	Slovenia	31	147	116
6	Croatia	16	129	113
7	Bosnia-Herzegovina	21	131	110
8	Panama	29	135	106
9	Armenia	41	139	98
11	Switzerland	7	98	91
10	Denmark	22	113	91
12	Wales	49	138	89
13	Albania	54	142	88
14	Costa Rica	34	121	87
15	Scotland	37	117	80
16	Trinidad and Tobago	76	156	80
17	Portugal	4	83	79
18	Serbia	28	102	74
22	Belgium	10	76	66
19	Greece	13	79	66
20	Northern Ireland	86	152	66
21	Gabon	88	154	66
24	Slovakia	50	115	65
23	Estonia	92	157	65
26	F.Y.R. Macedonia	82	146	64
25	New Caledonia	118	182	64
27	Jamaica	80	143	63
28	Sweden	27	89	62
29	Norway	57	119	62
30	Grenada	132	191	59
31	Honduras	36	93	57
32	Finland	58	114	56
33	Republic of Ireland	68	123	55
34	Botswana	95	149	54
35	Bahrain	106	160	54
36	Netherlands	11	63	52
37	Liechtenstein	151	203	52
39	Czech Republic	30	81	51
38	Luxembourg	120	171	51
40	Antigua & Barbuda	144	195	51
42	Chile	15	65	50
41	Austria	44	94	50
43	St Vincent & the Grenadines	139	189	50
44	Oman	81	130	49
45	Qatar	101	148	47
46	Tahiti	138	185	47
48	Hungary	43	88	45
47	St Kitts and Nevis	156	201	45
49	Paraguay	59	103	44
50	Ecuador	23	66	43
51	Cyprus	122	163	41
52	Suriname	131	172	41
53	Malta	134	174	40
54	St Lucia	146	186	40
55	Faroe Islands	162	202	40
57	Jordan	66	105	39
56	Congo	87	126	39
58	Sierra Leone	72	110	38
59	Dominica	159	197	38
60	Libya	71	108	37
61	Latvia	113	150	37
62	Belize	140	177	37
63	Equatorial Guinea	119	155	36
64	Lithuania	105	140	35
65	UAE	61	95	34
66	New Zealand	90	124	34
67	Tunisia	44	77	33
68	Bulgaria	67	100	33
69	Israel	65	97	32
70	Liberia	97	128	31
71	Aruba	162	193	31
72	Argentina	3	32	29
73	Cote D’Ivoire	24	53	29
74	Bermuda	169	198	29
75	El Salvador	78	106	28
77	Spain	1	28	27
78	Romania	32	59	27
76	Kuwait	110	137	27
79	Georgia	99	125	26
81	Guinea	53	78	25
80	Moldova	108	133	25
82	Colombia	5	27	22
83	Maldives	157	179	22
84	Montserrat	188	209	21
86	Togo	89	109	20
85	Namibia	124	144	20
88	Barbados	161	180	19
87	Sao Tome e Principe	165	184	19
89	Seychelles	176	194	18
90	Bolivia	70	87	17
91	Central African Republic	107	122	15
92	Gambia	136	151	15
95	Germany	2	16	14
94	Italy	8	22	14
96	Ghana	35	49	14
93	Guam	173	187	14
97	England	12	24	12
99	Mali	56	68	12
98	Guyana	153	165	12
100	Ukraine	18	29	11
101	Curacao	178	188	10
102	British Virgin Islands	197	206	9
104	Algeria	25	33	8
103	Belarus	83	91	8
105	Cameroon	50	57	7
106	Venezuela	39	44	5
108	Haiti	79	84	5
109	Solomon Islands	165	170	5
107	Cayman Islands	195	200	5
110	France	17	21	4
111	Lebanon	116	120	4
113	Senegal	69	71	2
112	Lesotho	143	145	2
114	American Samoa	197	199	2
115	Cook Islands	205	207	2
116	Anguilla	206	208	2
117	Vanuatu	180	181	1
118	Samoa	182	183	1
119	Tonga	191	192	1
120	Peru	40	40	0
121	Azerbaijan	91	90	-1
122	Burkina Faso	62	60	-2
123	Turks and Caicos Islands	207	205	-2
124	Andorra	199	196	-3
125	San Marino	207	204	-3
127	Brazil	9	5	-4
128	Zambia	74	70	-4
126	US Virgin Islands	194	190	-4
130	Mexico	20	11	-9
131	Benin	94	85	-9
129	Bahamas	185	176	-9
132	Russia	19	9	-10
133	USA	14	3	-11
134	Egypt	26	15	-11
135	Australia	63	51	-12
136	Uzbekistan	55	41	-14
138	Comoros	183	167	-16
137	Brunei Darussalam	191	175	-16
139	Fiji	181	164	-17
141	Cuba	93	75	-18
142	Puerto Rico	150	132	-18
140	Mauritius	176	158	-18
143	Dominican Republic	111	92	-19
144	Turkey	38	18	-20
145	Swaziland	179	159	-20
146	Mauritania	155	134	-21
147	Turkmenistan	142	118	-24
149	Iran	42	17	-25
148	Tajikistan	121	96	-25
150	Zimbabwe	102	72	-30
151	Guinea-Bissau	183	153	-30
152	Timor-Leste	191	161	-30
153	Saudi Arabia	75	43	-32
155	Singapore	149	116	-33
154	Macau	202	169	-33
156	South Korea	60	26	-34
157	Kyrgyzstan	146	112	-34
159	Japan	48	10	-38
158	Morocco	77	39	-38
161	South Africa	64	25	-39
160	Poland	73	34	-39
164	Nigeria	47	7	-40
163	Angola	96	56	-40
162	Palestine	167	127	-40
165	Bhutan	207	166	-41
166	Niger	104	62	-42
167	Djibouti	204	162	-42
168	Burundi	129	86	-43
169	Hong Kong	145	101	-44
170	Mongolia	187	141	-46
171	Uganda	85	36	-49
172	Malawi	114	64	-50
173	Rwanda	134	80	-54
174	Nicaragua	168	111	-57
175	Guatemala	126	67	-59
177	Congo DR	84	19	-65
178	Iraq	103	38	-65
176	Mozambique	115	50	-65
179	Kazakhstan	127	61	-66
180	Laos	172	104	-68
181	Canada	112	37	-75
182	Kenya	109	31	-78
183	Afghanistan	127	46	-81
184	Syria	137	54	-83
185	North Korea	133	48	-85
186	Ethiopia	100	14	-86
187	Tanzania	117	30	-87
188	Sudan	122	35	-87
189	Eritrea	200	107	-93
190	Papua New Guinea	195	99	-96
191	China	98	1	-97
192	Chad	170	73	-97
193	Malaysia	141	42	-99
194	Vietnam	125	13	-112
196	Nepal	160	45	-115
195	Sri Lanka	173	58	-115
197	Philippines	130	12	-118
198	Chinese Taipei	171	52	-119
199	Cambodia	188	69	-119
200	Somalia	203	82	-121
201	South Sudan	201	74	-127
202	Thailand	148	20	-128
203	Madagascar	190	55	-135
204	Yemen	185	47	-138
206	India	152	2	-150
207	Indonesia	154	4	-150
205	Myanmar	173	23	-150
208	Pakistan	158	6	-152
209	Bangladesh	162	8	-154

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Continue to FIFA World Rankings vs. Population & National Football Association Age

FIFA World Rankings vs. Population & National Football Association Age

The following is a table comparing the difference between FIFA World Rankings with a composite of ranking by population and by the age of the country’s national football association’s date of formation.  The list is sorted by the difference from largest to smallest and then by FIFA World Ranking from highest to lowest.  All FIFA World Ranking data is courtesy of their latest rankings on the 13^th of March 2014.

Rank	Country	FIFA Rank	Comb. Rank	Change
1	Bosnia-Herzegovina	21	179	158
2	Cape Verde Islands	33	191	158
3	Armenia	41	180	139
4	Iceland	52	167	115
5	Ukraine	18	125	107
6	Panama	29	130	101
7	Oman	81	172	91
8	Montenegro	46	135	89
9	UAE	61	143	82
10	Gabon	88	169	81
11	Botswana	95	174	79
12	Sierra Leone	72	149	77
13	Honduras	36	111	75
14	Belarus	83	158	75
15	Azerbaijan	91	164	73
16	Moldova	108	178	70
17	Libya	71	140	69
18	Slovenia	31	96	65
19	Congo	87	152	65
20	Cote D’Ivoire	24	88	64
21	Albania	54	118	64
22	Slovakia	50	113	63
23	Tunisia	44	106	62
24	F.Y.R. Macedonia	82	144	62
25	Algeria	25	85	60
26	Bahrain	106	166	60
27	St Vincent & the Grenadines	139	198	59
28	Uruguay	6	64	58
29	Croatia	16	74	58
30	Qatar	101	159	58
31	Namibia	124	182	58
32	Guinea	53	110	57
33	Jordan	66	120	54
34	Belize	140	194	54
35	South Africa	64	116	52
36	Greece	13	63	50
37	Ghana	35	84	49
38	Mali	56	105	49
39	St Lucia	146	195	49
40	Costa Rica	34	80	46
41	Equatorial Guinea	119	165	46
42	Togo	89	133	44
43	Portugal	4	46	42
44	Faroe Islands	162	204	42
45	Cameroon	50	89	39
46	Maldives	157	196	39
47	Senegal	69	107	38
48	Central African Republic	107	145	38
49	Benin	94	129	35
50	Angola	96	131	35
51	Dominica	159	193	34
52	Burkina Faso	62	95	33
53	Turkmenistan	142	175	33
54	Serbia	28	60	32
55	Kuwait	110	142	32
56	Australia	63	94	31
57	Ecuador	23	52	29
58	Switzerland	7	35	28
59	Curacao	178	206	28
60	Kyrgyzstan	146	173	27
61	Zimbabwe	102	127	25
62	Tahiti	138	163	25
63	Liberia	97	121	24
64	Sao Tome e Principe	165	189	24
65	Seychelles	176	199	23
66	Denmark	22	43	21
67	El Salvador	78	99	21
68	Solomon Islands	165	186	21
69	Colombia	5	25	20
70	New Caledonia	118	138	20
71	Guam	173	192	19
72	Niger	104	122	18
73	Estonia	92	109	17
74	Gambia	136	153	17
75	Liechtenstein	151	168	17
76	Georgia	99	115	16
77	Cyprus	122	137	15
78	Belgium	10	24	14
79	Kazakhstan	127	141	14
80	Montserrat	188	202	14
81	Israel	65	78	13
82	Republic of Ireland	68	81	13
83	Sweden	27	38	11
84	Mozambique	115	126	11
85	Spain	1	11	10
86	Uzbekistan	55	65	10
87	Trinidad and Tobago	76	86	10
88	Wales	49	58	9
89	Malawi	114	123	9
90	US Virgin Islands	194	203	9
91	Netherlands	11	19	8
92	American Samoa	197	205	8
93	Andorra	199	207	8
94	Scotland	37	44	7
95	Grenada	132	139	7
96	Chile	15	21	6
97	Timor-Leste	191	197	6
98	Bulgaria	67	72	5
99	St Kitts and Nevis	156	161	5
100	Argentina	3	7	4
101	Saudi Arabia	75	79	4
102	British Virgin Islands	197	201	4
103	Dominican Republic	111	114	3
104	Antigua & Barbuda	144	147	3
105	Samoa	182	185	3
106	Jamaica	80	82	2
107	Rwanda	134	136	2
108	Anguilla	206	208	2
109	Turks and Caicos Islands	207	209	2
110	Brazil	9	10	1
111	Mauritania	155	156	1
112	Comoros	183	184	1
113	Germany	2	2	0
114	Czech Republic	30	30	0
115	Venezuela	39	39	0
116	Morocco	77	77	0
117	France	17	16	-1
118	Norway	57	55	-2
119	Finland	58	56	-2
120	Austria	44	41	-3
121	Bolivia	70	67	-3
122	Swaziland	179	176	-3
123	Bahamas	185	181	-4
124	Tonga	191	187	-4
125	Italy	8	3	-5
126	Cayman Islands	195	190	-5
127	Cook Islands	205	200	-5
128	USA	14	8	-6
129	Romania	32	26	-6
130	Guinea-Bissau	183	177	-6
131	Nigeria	47	40	-7
132	Aruba	162	155	-7
133	Egypt	26	18	-8
134	Lithuania	105	97	-8
135	Lebanon	116	108	-8
136	Hungary	43	34	-9
137	Latvia	113	104	-9
138	Russia	19	9	-10
139	England	12	1	-11
140	Peru	40	28	-12
141	Paraguay	59	47	-12
142	Zambia	74	62	-12
143	Suriname	131	119	-12
144	Turkey	38	23	-15
145	Lesotho	143	128	-15
146	Mexico	20	4	-16
147	Northern Ireland	86	70	-16
148	Puerto Rico	150	132	-18
149	Luxembourg	120	101	-19
150	Mauritius	176	157	-19
151	Bhutan	207	188	-19
152	Brunei Darussalam	191	171	-20
153	Bermuda	169	148	-21
154	Djibouti	204	183	-21
155	Iran	42	17	-25
156	Burundi	129	103	-26
157	Tajikistan	121	91	-30
158	Vanuatu	180	150	-30
159	Eritrea	200	170	-30
160	South Korea	60	27	-33
161	Kenya	109	76	-33
162	Fiji	181	146	-35
163	Japan	48	12	-36
164	Mongolia	187	151	-36
165	Iraq	103	66	-37
166	New Zealand	90	51	-39
167	Cuba	93	54	-39
168	South Sudan	201	160	-41
169	Malta	134	90	-44
170	San Marino	207	162	-45
171	Haiti	79	33	-46
172	Laos	172	124	-48
173	Macau	202	154	-48
174	Barbados	161	112	-49
175	Poland	73	22	-51
176	Chad	170	117	-53
177	Vietnam	125	71	-54
178	Ethiopia	100	45	-55
179	Uganda	85	29	-56
180	Papua New Guinea	195	134	-61
181	North Korea	133	69	-64
182	Guyana	153	87	-66
183	Palestine	167	100	-67
184	Congo DR	84	13	-71
185	Sudan	122	48	-74
186	Syria	137	61	-76
187	Nicaragua	168	92	-76
188	Bangladesh	162	83	-79
189	Tanzania	117	36	-81
190	China	98	15	-83
191	Nepal	160	75	-85
192	Hong Kong	145	57	-88
193	Guatemala	126	37	-89
194	Canada	112	20	-92
195	Malaysia	141	49	-92
196	Yemen	185	93	-92
197	Madagascar	190	98	-92
198	Afghanistan	127	32	-95
199	Singapore	149	50	-99
200	Sri Lanka	173	73	-100
201	Somalia	203	102	-101
202	Chinese Taipei	171	59	-112
203	Pakistan	158	42	-116
204	Myanmar	173	53	-120
205	Cambodia	188	68	-120
206	India	152	31	-121
207	Philippines	130	5	-125
208	Thailand	148	14	-134
209	Indonesia	154	6	-148

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Continue to World Football ELO Rankings vs. Population

World Football ELO Ratings vs. Population

This table shows the difference between World Football ELO Ratings Rankings and population ranking.  The table is sorted by the difference from the largest to the smallest and then by World Football ELO Ratings rank.  All World Football ELO Ratings data is courtesy of their website and Advanced Satellite Consulting and accurate as of the 14^th of March 2014.

Rank	Country	ELO Rank	Pop Rank	Change
1	Uruguay	9	136	127
2	Montenegro	60	168	108
3	Croatia	23	129	106
4	Bosnia and Herzegovina	25	131	106
5	Slovenia	50	147	97
6	Panama	39	135	96
7	Iceland	84	178	94
8	Cape Verde	82	173	91
9	Costa Rica	32	121	89
10	Denmark	28	113	85
11	Switzerland	16	98	82
12	Republic of Ireland	42	123	81
13	Scotland	39	117	78
14	Serbia	25	102	77
15	Portugal	7	83	76
16	Wales	63	138	75
17	Trinidad and Tobago	83	156	73
18	New Caledonia	110	182	72
19	Sweden	19	89	70
20	Finland	45	114	69
21	Armenia	70	139	69
22	Oman	64	130	66
23	Gabon	89	154	65
24	Kuwait	73	137	64
25	Jamaica	79	143	64
26	Norway	57	119	62
27	Bahrain	98	160	62
28	Slovakia	54	115	61
29	F.Y.R. Macedonia	85	146	61
30	Qatar	87	148	61
31	Estonia	96	157	61
32	Paraguay	43	103	60
33	Netherlands	5	63	58
34	Belgium	18	76	58
35	Greece	21	79	58
36	Albania	86	142	56
37	Chile	10	65	55
38	New Zealand	69	124	55
39	Czech Republic	27	81	54
40	Ecuador	14	66	52
41	Antigua and Barbuda	143	195	52
42	Honduras	44	93	49
43	United Arab Emirates	46	95	49
44	Bulgaria	51	100	49
45	Latvia	101	150	49
46	Austria	47	94	47
47	Jordan	61	105	44
48	Tahiti	142	185	43
49	Israel	55	97	42
50	Cyprus	122	163	41
51	Hungary	48	88	40
52	Lithuania	100	140	40
53	Bermuda	158	198	40
54	Northern Ireland	113	152	39
55	Faroe Islands	163	202	39
56	Fiji	126	164	38
57	Libya	71	108	37
58	Liechtenstein	166	203	37
59	Bolivia	53	87	34
60	Georgia	91	125	34
61	St Kitts and Nevis	167	201	34
62	Guyana	132	165	33
63	Vanuatu	149	181	32
64	Cote D’Ivoire	22	53	31
65	Grenada	162	191	29
66	Argentina	4	32	28
67	Spain	2	28	26
68	El Salvador	80	106	26
69	Moldova	107	133	26
70	Gambia	125	151	26
71	Malta	148	174	26
72	Equatorial Guinea	130	155	25
73	Belarus	68	91	23
74	Botswana	127	149	22
75	Romania	38	59	21
76	Colombia	8	27	19
77	Togo	90	109	19
78	Surinam	153	172	19
79	England	6	24	18
80	Australia	33	51	18
81	Solomon Islands	152	170	18
82	St Vincent and the Grenadines	171	189	18
83	Lebanon	104	120	16
84	Germany	3	16	13
85	Ukraine	17	29	12
86	Ghana	37	49	12
87	Italy	11	22	11
88	Luxembourg	160	171	11
89	Congo	116	126	10
90	Dominica	187	197	10
91	France	12	21	9
92	Senegal	62	71	9
93	Namibia	136	144	8
94	Barbados	172	180	8
95	Belize	170	177	7
96	Cayman Islands	193	200	7
97	Seychelles	188	194	6
98	Peru	35	40	5
99	Andorra	191	196	5
100	Brazil	1	5	4
101	Venezuela	41	44	3
102	Guinea	75	78	3
103	Mali	67	68	1
104	Sao Tome e Principe	183	184	1
105	St Lucia	185	186	1
106	Liberia	128	128	0
107	Maldives	179	179	0
108	Cameroon	58	57	-1
109	Tunisia	78	77	-1
110	Guinea-Bissau	154	153	-1
111	Curacao	189	188	-1
112	San Marino	205	204	-1
113	Cook Islands	209	207	-2
114	Aruba	196	193	-3
115	Turkmenistan	123	118	-5
116	Lesotho	150	145	-5
117	Russia	15	9	-6
118	Mexico	19	11	-8
119	Uzbekistan	49	41	-8
120	Central African Republic	131	122	-9
121	USA	13	3	-10
122	South Korea	36	26	-10
123	Sierra Leone	120	110	-10
124	Palestine	138	127	-11
125	Azerbaijan	102	90	-12
126	British Virgin Islands	218	206	-12
127	Burkina Faso	73	60	-13
128	Montserrat	222	209	-13
129	Japan	24	10	-14
130	Iran	31	17	-14
131	Turks and Caicos	219	205	-14
132	Egypt	30	15	-15
133	Tonga	207	192	-15
134	Turkey	34	18	-16
135	Swaziland	175	159	-16
136	North Korea	65	48	-17
137	Zambia	87	70	-17
138	Anguilla	225	208	-17
139	Poland	52	34	-18
140	Haiti	102	84	-18
141	Bahamas	194	176	-18
142	Nigeria	29	7	-22
143	Algeria	56	33	-23
144	Mauritania	159	134	-25
145	Samoa	208	183	-25
146	Guatemala	93	67	-26
147	Mauritius	184	158	-26
148	US Virgin Islands	216	190	-26
149	Iraq	65	38	-27
150	Benin	112	85	-27
151	Guam	214	187	-27
152	Singapore	146	116	-30
153	Comoros	198	167	-31
154	Cuba	108	75	-33
155	American Samoa	232	199	-33
156	South Africa	59	25	-34
157	Saudi Arabia	77	43	-34
158	Morocco	76	39	-37
159	Zimbabwe	111	72	-39
160	Syria	94	54	-40
161	Angola	99	56	-43
162	Uganda	80	36	-44
163	Tajikistan	141	96	-45
164	Brunei Darussalam	221	175	-46
165	Burundi	133	86	-47
166	Dominican Republic	140	92	-48
167	Puerto Rico	180	132	-48
168	Djibouti	213	162	-51
169	Canada	92	37	-55
170	Rwanda	136	80	-56
171	Macau	226	169	-57
172	Kyrgyzstan	172	112	-60
173	Kenya	94	31	-63
174	Kazakhstan	124	61	-63
175	Hong Kong	164	101	-63
176	Nicaragua	174	111	-63
177	Timor-Leste	224	161	-63
178	Malawi	128	64	-64
179	Bhutan	231	166	-65
180	Eritrea	176	107	-69
181	Papua New Guinea	169	99	-70
182	China	72	1	-71
183	Mozambique	121	50	-71
184	Chad	144	73	-71
185	Mongolia	212	141	-71
186	Niger	134	62	-72
187	Congo DR	96	19	-77
188	Sudan	115	35	-80
189	South Sudan	157	74	-83
190	Tanzania	116	30	-86
191	Ethiopia	109	14	-95
192	Laos	200	104	-96
193	Madagascar	165	55	-110
194	Thailand	135	20	-115
195	Malaysia	161	42	-119
196	Yemen	168	47	-121
197	Somalia	203	82	-121
198	Vietnam	145	13	-132
199	Afghanistan	181	46	-135
200	Philippines	156	12	-144
201	Indonesia	150	4	-146
202	Sri Lanka	206	58	-148
203	Nepal	195	45	-150
204	Cambodia	220	69	-151
205	Chinese Taipei	204	52	-152
206	Myanmar	186	23	-163
207	India	177	2	-175
208	Bangladesh	190	8	-182
209	Pakistan	192	6	-186

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World Cup Appearances

This table shows the number of World Cup Appearances for each country per head of population. It is ranked by population divided by World Cup appearances (up to and including the 2014 tournament) and then by number of World Cup appearances. Countries that have appeared as part of another nation are dealt with as per FIFA’s recommendations.

		Apps.	Population	Pop per App.
1	Uruguay	12	3,286,314	273,860
2	Northern Ireland	3	1,810,863	603,621
3	Scotland	8	5,295,000	661,875
4	Switzerland	10	8,112,200	811,220
5	Paraguay	8	6,783,374	847,922
6	Sweden	11	9,651,531	877,412
7	Belgium	12	11,132,269	927,689
8	Slovenia	2	2,061,842	1,030,921
9	Bulgaria	7	7,282,041	1,040,292
10	Croatia	4	4,290,612	1,072,653
11	Hungary	9	9,906,000	1,100,667
12	Costa Rica	4	4,667,096	1,166,774
13	Czech Republic	9	10,513,800	1,168,200
14	Austria	7	8,504,850	1,214,979
15	Trinidad & Tobago	1	1,328,019	1,328,019
16	Denmark	4	5,627,235	1,406,809
17	Republic of Ireland	3	4,593,100	1,531,033
18	Netherlands	10	16,840,600	1,684,060
19	Norway	3	5,109,056	1,703,019
20	Portugal	6	10,487,289	1,747,882
21	Chile	8	16,341,929	2,042,741
22	Yugoslavia	11	23,724,919	2,156,811
23	New Zealand	2	4,516,270	2,258,135
24	Argentina	16	41,660,096	2,603,756
25	Jamaica	1	2,711,476	2,711,476
26	Tunisia	4	10,886,500	2,721,625
27	Honduras	3	8,555,072	2,851,691
28	Romania	7	20,121,641	2,874,520
29	Cameroon	7	20,386,799	2,912,400
30	Wales	1	3,063,456	3,063,456
31	Kuwait	1	3,065,850	3,065,850
32	El Salvador	2	6,340,000	3,170,000
33	Italy	18	59,943,933	3,330,219
34	Spain	14	46,704,314	3,336,022
35	Bolivia	3	10,027,254	3,342,418
36	Greece	3	10,815,197	3,605,066
37	England	14	53,012,456	3,786,604
38	Bosnia & Herzegovina	1	3,791,622	3,791,622
39	Germany	18	80,619,000	4,478,833
40	France	14	65,844,000	4,703,143
41	Ecuador	3	15,691,500	5,230,500
42	Slovakia	1	5,415,459	5,415,459
43	Poland	7	38,502,396	5,500,342
44	South Korea	9	50,219,669	5,579,963
45	Australia	4	23,402,522	5,850,631
46	Togo	1	6,191,155	6,191,155
47	Saudi Arabia	4	29,994,272	7,498,568
48	Peru	4	30,475,144	7,618,786
49	Cote D’Ivoire	3	23,202,000	7,734,000
50	Mexico	15	118,395,054	7,893,004
51	Israel	1	8,146,300	8,146,300
52	Ghana	3	24,658,823	8,219,608
53	United Arab Emirates	1	8,264,070	8,264,070
54	Morocco	4	33,191,600	8,297,900
55	Colombia	5	47,490,000	9,498,000
56	Algeria	4	38,700,000	9,675,000
57	Brazil	20	201,032,714	10,051,636
58	Haiti	1	10,413,211	10,413,211
59	Cuba	1	11,167,325	11,167,325
60	North Korea	2	24,895,000	12,447,500
61	Senegal	1	13,567,338	13,567,338
62	Russia	10	143,700,000	14,370,000
63	East Germany	1	16,111,000	16,111,000
64	South Africa	3	52,981,991	17,660,664
65	Iran	4	77,261,000	19,315,250
66	Angola	1	20,609,294	20,609,294
67	Japan	5	127,180,000	25,436,000
68	USA	10	317,643,000	31,764,300
69	Iraq	1	34,035,000	34,035,000
70	Nigeria	5	173,615,000	34,723,000
71	Canada	1	35,295,770	35,295,770
72	Turkey	2	76,667,864	38,333,932
73	Egypt	2	86,065,300	43,032,650
74	Ukraine	1	45,426,200	45,426,200
75	DR Congo	1	67,514,000	67,514,000
76	Indonesia	1	249,866,000	249,866,000
77	China	1	1,360,720,000	1,360,720,000

European Championship Appearances per capita

This table shows the number of European Championship Appearances for each qualified country per head of population. It is ranked by population divided by World Cup appearances and then by number of World Cup appearances. Countries that have appeared as part of another nation are dealt with as per FIFA’s recommendations.

		Apps.	Population	Pop per App.
1	Denmark	8	5,627,235	703,404
2	Croatia	4	4,290,612	1,072,653
3	Czech Republic	8	10,513,800	1,314,225
4	Portugal	6	10,487,289	1,747,882
5	Netherlands	9	16,840,600	1,871,178
6	Sweden	5	9,651,531	1,930,306
7	Latvia	1	2,005,200	2,005,200
8	Slovenia	1	2,061,842	2,061,842
9	Republic of Ireland	2	4,593,100	2,296,550
10	Scotland	2	5,295,000	2,647,500
11	Greece	4	10,815,197	2,703,799
12	Switzerland	3	8,112,200	2,704,067
13	Belgium	4	11,132,269	2,783,067
14	Bulgaria	2	7,282,041	3,641,021
15	Yugoslavia	5	23,724,919	4,744,984
16	Hungary	2	9,906,000	4,953,000
17	Romania	4	20,121,641	5,030,410
18	Norway	1	5,109,056	5,109,056
19	Spain	9	46,704,314	5,189,368
20	England	8	53,012,456	6,626,557
21	Germany	11	80,619,000	7,329,000
22	Italy	8	59,943,933	7,492,992
23	France	8	65,844,000	8,230,500
24	Austria	1	8,504,850	8,504,850
25	Russia	10	143,700,000	14,370,000
26	Poland	2	38,502,396	19,251,198
27	Turkey	3	76,667,864	25,555,955
28	Ukraine	1	45,426,200	45,426,200

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Attendances of National Football Leagues

The following tables show the attendances of the combined top two tiers, top tier and second tiers of national football leagues in the most recent year in which figures were given. All league attendance figures are courtesy of Wikipedia’s List of Attendance Figures at Domestic Professional Sports Leagues page and accurate as of the 15th of March 2014.

Combined Top Two Tiers’ Attendances

Rank	Country	Year(s)	Total Att.	% of Pop.
1	Scotland	2011/12 & 2010/11	3,613,294	68.24%
2	England	2012/13 & 2011/12	23,445,598	44.23%
3	Netherlands	2011/12	7,245,529	43.02%
4	Spain	2011/12 & 2010/11	15,252,311	32.66%
5	Sweden	2012	2,319,814	24.04%
6	Germany	2012/13 & 2011/12	18,321,929	22.73%
7	Italy	2012/13 & 2010/11	10,856,189	18.11%
8	France	2012/13 & 2011/12	10,512,101	15.97%
9	Poland	2011/12 & 2009/10	3,090,720	8.03%
10	Japan	2013 & 2010	7,561,129	5.95%
11	Malaysia	2008 & 2005	1,630,972	5.43%
12	Brazil	2013	7,632,648	3.80%
13	Russia	2012/13	3,977,433	2.77%
14	China	2013 & 2009	5,128,770	0.38%

Top Tier Attendances

Rank	Country	Year(s)	Total Att.	% of Pop.
1	Cyprus	2009/10	555,840	64.19%
2	Scotland	2011/12	3,160,414	59.69%
3	Iceland	2010	159,060	48.84%
4	Norway	2010	1,948,080	38.13%
5	Netherlands	2011/12	5,978,689	35.50%
6	Qatar	2010/11	669,679	32.74%
7	Montenegro	2009/10	194,238	31.33%
8	England	2012/13	13,653,908	25.76%
9	Belgium	2011/12	2,815,321	25.29%
10	Switzerland	2010/11	2,045,700	25.22%
11	Portugal	2011/12	2,632,320	25.10%
12	Spain	2011/12	11,504,567	24.63%
13	Denmark	2010/11	1,385,717	24.63%
14	Argentina	2012/13	8,016,797	19.24%
15	Sweden	2012	1,730,357	17.93%
16	Austria	2010/11	1,453,860	17.09%
17	Germany	2012/13	13,038,533	16.17%
18	Uruguay	2011/12 Apertura	498,549	15.17%
19	Greece	2010/11	1,550,826	14.34%
20	Italy	2012/13	8,432,075	14.07%
21	Macedonia	2006/07	280,764	13.61%
22	Israel	2010/11	1,087,215	13.35%
23	Serbia	2011/12	913,680	12.72%
24	Chile	2009	1,833,853	11.22%
25	Croatia	2010/11	477,840	11.14%
26	France	2012/13	7,299,737	11.09%
27	Slovenia	2010/11	216,000	10.48%
28	Czech Republic	2010/11	1,078,080	10.25%
29	Paraguay	2011	690,368	10.18%
30	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2010/11	375,120	9.89%
31	Algeria	2007/08	3,698,928	9.56%
32	Hungary	2011/12	918,720	9.27%
33	Slovakia	2009/10	478,566	8.84%
34	Romania	2010/11	1,535,390	7.63%
35	Bolivia	2008	750,056	7.48%
36	Finland	2010	403,579	7.40%
37	Mexico	2011/12	8,495,000	7.18%
38	Ecuador	2010	1,103,873	7.03%
39	Australia	2012/13	1,632,321	6.97%
40	Republic of Ireland	2010	290,160	6.32%
41	Belarus	2007	594,000	6.27%
42	Bulgaria	2010/11	451,920	6.21%
43	Ukraine	2011/12	2,711,144	5.97%
44	Venezuela	2011/12	1,621,472	5.60%
45	Poland	2011/12	2,123,760	5.52%
46	Singapore	2010	280,566	5.20%
47	United Arab Emirates	2010/11	427,680	5.18%
48	Turkey	2011/12	3,442,500	4.49%
49	Morocco	2007/08	1,486,800	4.48%
50	Uzbekistan	2011	1,272,362	4.22%
51	Malaysia	2008	1,258,348	4.19%
52	Japan	2013	5,271,047	4.14%
53	Peru	2011	1,242,615	4.08%
54	South Korea	2013	2,036,413	4.06%
55	Iran	2010/11	2,968,000	3.84%
56	Colombia	2011	1,633,456	3.44%
57	Kazakhstan	2010	794,304	3.11%
58	South Africa	2012/13	1,613,280	3.04%
59	Brazil	2013	5,682,868	2.83%
60	Azerbaijan	2009/10	246,972	2.61%
61	Saudi Arabia	2010/11	765,162	2.55%
62	Thailand	2013	1,657,887	2.51%
63	Russia	2012/13	3,096,744	2.16%
64	MLS (USA/Canada)	2013	6,005,991	1.89%
65	Vietnam	2011	1,328,000	1.48%
66	Hong Kong	2011/12	104,150	1.45%
67	Indonesia	2010/11	2,428,930	0.97%
68	China	2013	4,456,977	0.33%

Second Tier Attendances

Rank	Country	Year(s)	Total Att.	% of Pop.
1	England	2011/12	9,791,690	18.47%
2	Scotland	2010/11	452,880	8.55%
3	Spain	2010/11	3,747,744	8.02%
4	Netherlands	2011/12	1,266,840	7.52%
5	Germany	2011/12	5,283,396	6.55%
6	Sweden	2012	589,457	6.11%
7	France	2011/12	3,212,364	4.88%
8	Italy	2010/11	2,424,114	4.04%
9	Poland	2009/10	966,960	2.51%
10	Japan	2010	2,290,082	1.80%
11	Malaysia	2005	372,624	1.24%
12	Brazil	2013	1,949,780	0.97%
13	Russia	2012/13	880,689	0.61%
14	China	2009	671,793	0.05%

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UEFA League Co-Efficients vs. Population

The following table compares the rankings of UEFA countries by their national league co-efficient and their population rank within Europe. The table is sorted by the difference between the two from the largest to smallest and then by UEFA co-efficients from largest to smallest. All UEFA league coefficients statistics are courtesy of their website and accurate as of the 14th of March 2014.

Rank	Country	Points	League Rank	Pop Rank	Change
1	Cyprus	23.25	18	45	27
2	Croatia	19.625	20	33	13
3	Iceland	6.75	37	49	12
4	Portugal	58.966	5	16	11
5	Slovenia	11	30	41	11
6	Switzerland	32.025	13	23	10
7	Austria	30.725	14	21	7
8	Denmark	21.3	19	26	7
9	Montenegro	6	39	46	7
10	Spain	90.57	1	7	6
11	Scotland	16.566	23	29	6
12	Liechtenstein	4.5	46	52	6
13	Israel	26.875	17	22	5
14	England	82.891	2	6	4
15	Netherlands	43.646	8	12	4
16	Norway	14.275	26	30	4
17	Latvia	6.25	38	42	4
18	Belgium	36.3	10	13	3
19	Moldova	10.375	32	35	3
20	Luxembourg	4.875	44	47	3
21	Malta	4.833	45	48	3
22	Greece	33.6	12	14	2
23	Italy	64.938	4	5	1
24	San Marino	0.999	52	53	1
25	Czech Republic	28.85	15	15	0
26	Faroe Islands	2.125	51	51	0
27	Gibraltar	0	54	54	0
28	Germany	80.355	3	2	-1
29	Ukraine	40.966	9	8	-1
30	Bulgaria	15.625	25	24	-1
31	Slovakia	11	29	28	-1
32	Georgia	9.875	33	32	-1
33	Bosnia and Herzegovina	7.5	35	34	-1
34	Albania	5.5	40	39	-1
35	France	55.166	6	4	-2
36	Belarus	18.625	22	20	-2
37	Serbia	14.125	27	25	-2
38	Macedonia	5.25	42	40	-2
39	Lithuania	5.25	41	38	-3
40	Andorra	0.833	53	50	-3
41	Northern Ireland	3.625	47	43	-4
42	Russia	46.498	7	1	-6
43	Romania	27.257	16	10	-6
44	Sweden	16.325	24	18	-6
45	Estonia	2.875	50	44	-6
46	Turkey	34.2	11	3	-8
47	Finland	7.175	36	27	-9
48	Hungary	11.625	28	17	-11
49	Poland	18.875	21	9	-12
50	Azerbaijan	10.375	31	19	-12
51	Republic of Ireland	5.125	43	31	-12
52	Wales	3	48	36	-12
53	Armenia	2.875	49	37	-12
54	Kazakhstan	8.25	34	11	-23

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European Cup Wins/Finals per capita

The table below shows the European Cup/Champions League final wins and finals per capita for all nations that have been represented thus far. The table is sorted first by population per win, from lowest to highest, and then by population per final, from lowest to highest.

Rank per Win	Rank per Final		Wins	Finals	Population	Pop. per Win	Pop. per Final
1	1	Portugal	4	9	10,487,289	2,621,822	1,165,254
2	2	Netherlands	6	8	16,840,600	2,806,767	2,105,075
3	3	Spain	13	22	46,704,314	3,592,640	2,122,923
4	6	England	12	19	53,012,456	4,417,705	2,790,129
5	4	Italy	12	26	59,943,933	4,995,328	2,305,536
6	5	Scotland	1	2	5,295,000	5,295,000	2,647,500
7	7	Germany	7	17	80,619,000	11,517,000	4,742,294
8	9	Romania	1	2	20,121,641	20,121,641	10,060,821
9	13	Yugoslavia	1	2	23,724,919	23,724,919	11,862,460
10	11	France	1	6	65,844,000	65,844,000	10,974,000
	8	Sweden	0	1	9,651,531		9,651,531
	10	Greece	0	1	10,815,197		10,815,197
	12	Belgium	0	1	11,132,269		11,132,269

The table below shows the number of European Cup/Champions League, Cup Winners’ Cup and Europa League/UEFA Cup wins per capita for all nations who have won one of the trophies. Cup wins for any current clubs who have switched nations have been attributed to the new and current nation. The table is ranked by population per win.European Club Competition Wins per capita

 

Rank		UCL/EC	CWC	UEL/UC	Total	Population	Pop per win
1	Portugal	4	1	2	7	10,487,289	1,498,184
2	Netherlands	6	1	4	11	16,840,600	1,530,964
3	Spain	13	7	7	27	46,704,314	1,729,789
4	Scotland	1	2	0	3	5,295,000	1,765,000
5	England	12	8	7	27	53,012,456	1,963,424
6	Italy	12	7	9	28	59,943,933	2,140,855
7	Belgium	0	3	1	4	11,132,269	2,783,067
8	Georgia	0	1	0	1	4,483,800	4,483,800
9	Germany	7	4	6	17	80,619,000	4,742,294
10	Sweden	0	0	2	2	9,651,531	4,825,766
11	Ukraine	0	2	1	3	45,426,200	15,142,067
12	Czech Republic	0	1	0	1	15,600,000	15,600,000
13	East Germany	0	1	0	1	16,111,000	16,111,000
14	Romania	1	0	0	1	20,121,641	20,121,641
15	Yugoslavia	1	0	0	1	23,724,919	23,724,919
16	France	1	1	0	2	65,844,000	32,922,000
17	Russia	0	0	2	2	143,700,000	71,850,000
18	Turkey	0	0	1	1	76,667,864	76,667,864

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Continue to Population Ranking and National Football Association Age Ranking

Population Ranking and National Football Association Age Ranking

The following table shows FIFA nations’ ranking in terms of population size and the age of their national football association size. The table is sorted by an average of both of these ranks. It is this new ranking that is used when I calculated FIFA World Rankings vs. Population/Age of National Football Association. All population statistics are courtesy of Wikipedia’s List of countries by population page (or for defunct nations Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Soviet Union and East Germany their respective pages) and accurate as of the 6th of March 2014.

Com. Rank	Country	Population	Pop. Rank	Date of Formation	Form. Rank	Avg.
1	England	53,012,456	24	1863	1	12.5
2	Germany	80,619,000	16	1900	14	15
3	Italy	59,943,933	22	1898	13	17.5
4	Mexico	118,395,054	11	1907	25	18
5	Philippines	99,221,200	12	1907	25	18.5
6	Indonesia	249,866,000	4	1912	34	19
7	Argentina	41,660,096	32	1893	8	20
8	USA	317,643,000	3	1913	38	20.5
9	Russia	143,700,000	9	1912	34	21.5
10	Brazil	201,032,714	5	1914	39	22
11	Spain	46,704,314	28	1909	30	29
12	Japan	127,180,000	10	1921	51	30.5
13	Congo DR	67,514,000	19	1919	43	31
14	Thailand	65,926,261	20	1916	42	31
15	China	1,360,720,000	1	1924	62	31.5
16	France	65,844,000	21	1919	43	32
17	Iran	77,261,000	17	1920	48	32.5
18	Egypt	86,065,300	15	1921	51	33
19	Netherlands	16,840,600	63	1889	5	34
20	Canada	35,295,770	37	1912	34	35.5
21	Chile	16,341,929	65	1895	9	37
22	Poland	38,502,396	34	1919	43	38.5
23	Turkey	76,667,864	18	1923	60	39
24	Belgium	11,132,269	76	1895	9	42.5
25	Colombia	47,490,000	27	1924	62	44.5
26	Romania	20,121,641	59	1909	30	44.5
27	South Korea	50,219,669	26	1928	71	48.5
28	Peru	30,475,144	40	1922	57	48.5
29	Uganda	8,264,070	36	1924	62	49
30	Czech Republic	10,513,800	81	1901	17	49
31	India	1,241,140,000	2	1937	99	50.5
32	Afghanistan	25,500,100	46	1922	57	51.5
33	Haiti	10,413,211	84	1904	21	52.5
34	Hungary	9,906,000	88	1901	17	52.5
35	Switzerland	8,112,200	98	1895	9	53.5
36	Tanzania	44,928,923	30	1930	78	54
37	Guatemala	15,438,384	67	1919	43	55
38	Sweden	9,651,531	89	1904	21	55
39	Venezuela	28,946,101	44	1926	69	56.5
40	Nigeria	173,615,000	7	1945	108	57.5
41	Austria	8,504,850	94	1904	21	57.5
42	Pakistan	185,814,000	6	1947	111	58.5
43	Denmark	5,627,235	113	1889	5	59
44	Scotland	5,295,000	117	1873	2	59.5
45	Ethiopia	86,613,986	14	1943	107	60.5
46	Portugal	10,487,289	83	1914	39	61
47	Paraguay	6,783,374	103	1906	24	63.5
48	Sudan	37,964,000	35	1936	93	64
49	Malaysia	30,027,000	42	1933	86	64
50	Singapore	5,399,200	116	1897	12	64
51	New Zealand	4,516,270	124	1891	7	65.5
52	Ecuador	15,691,500	66	1925	67	66.5
53	Myanmar	53,259,000	23	1947	111	67
54	Cuba	11,167,325	75	1924	62	68.5
55	Norway	5,109,056	119	1902	19	69
56	Finland	5,452,821	114	1907	25	69.5
57	Hong Kong	7,184,000	101	1914	39	70
58	Wales	3,063,456	138	1876	3	70.5
59	Chinese Taipei	23,377,515	52	1936	93	72.5
60	Serbia	7,181,505	102	1919	43	72.5
61	Syria	21,898,000	54	1936	93	73.5
62	Zambia	14,580,290	70	1929	77	73.5
63	Greece	10,815,197	79	1926	69	74
64	Uruguay	3,286,314	136	1900	14	75
65	Uzbekistan	30,183,400	41	1946	110	75.5
66	Iraq	34,035,000	38	1948	114	76
67	Bolivia	10,027,254	87	1925	67	77
68	Cambodia	15,135,000	69	1933	86	77.5
69	North Korea	24,895,000	48	1945	108	78
70	Northern Ireland	1,810,863	152	1880	4	78
71	Vietnam	89,708,900	13	1962	147	80
72	Bulgaria	7,282,041	100	1923	60	80
73	Sri Lanka	20,277,597	58	1939	104	81
74	Croatia	4,290,612	129	1912	34	81.5
75	Nepal	26,494,504	45	1951	119	82
76	Kenya	44,354,000	31	1960	134	82.5
77	Morocco	33,191,600	39	1955	126	82.5
78	Israel	8,146,300	97	1928	71	84
79	Saudi Arabia	29,994,272	43	1956	127	85
80	Costa Rica	4,667,096	121	1921	51	86
81	Republic of Ireland	4,593,100	123	1921	51	87
82	Jamaica	2,711,476	143	1910	32	87.5
83	Bangladesh	152,518,015	8	1972	169	88.5
84	Ghana	24,658,823	49	1957	129	89
85	Algeria	38,700,000	33	1962	147	90
86	Trinidad and Tobago	1,328,019	156	1908	28	92
87	Guyana	784,894	165	1902	19	92
88	Cote D’Ivoire	23,202,000	53	1960	134	93.5
89	Cameroon	20,386,799	57	1959	131	94
90	Malta	416,055	174	1900	14	94
91	Tajikistan	8,160,000	96	1936	93	94.5
92	Nicaragua	6,071,045	111	1931	80	95.5
93	Yemen	25,235,000	47	1962	147	97
94	Australia	23,402,522	51	1961	143	97
95	Burkina Faso	17,322,796	60	1960	134	97
96	Slovenia	2,061,842	147	1920	48	97.5
97	Lithuania	2,941,953	140	1922	57	98.5
98	Madagascar	21,263,403	55	1961	143	99
99	El Salvador	6,340,000	106	1935	92	99
100	Palestine	4,420,549	127	1928	71	99
101	Luxembourg	537,000	171	1908	28	99.5
102	Somalia	10,496,000	82	1950	118	100
103	Burundi	10,163,000	86	1948	114	100
104	Latvia	2,005,200	150	1921	51	100.5
105	Mali	15,302,000	68	1960	134	101
106	Tunisia	10,886,500	77	1956	127	102
107	Senegal	13,567,338	71	1960	134	102.5
108	Lebanon	4,822,000	120	1933	86	103
109	Estonia	1,311,870	157	1921	51	104
110	Guinea	10,824,200	78	1960	134	106
111	Honduras	8,555,072	93	1951	119	106
112	Barbados	285,000	180	1910	32	106
113	Slovakia	5,415,459	115	1938	101	108
114	Dominican Republic	9,445,281	92	1953	125	108.5
115	Georgia	4,483,800	125	1936	93	109
116	South Africa	52,981,991	25	1991	195	110
117	Chad	12,825,000	73	1962	147	110
118	Albania	2,821,977	142	1930	78	110
119	Suriname	534,189	172	1920	48	110
120	Jordan	6,554,700	105	1949	116	110.5
121	Liberia	4,294,000	128	1936	93	110.5
122	Niger	17,129,076	62	1967	160	111
123	Malawi	16,363,000	64	1966	158	111
124	Laos	6,580,800	104	1951	119	111.5
125	Ukraine	35,357,000	29	1991	195	112
126	Mozambique	23,700,715	50	1976	176	113
127	Zimbabwe	12,973,808	72	1965	156	114
128	Lesotho	2,074,000	145	1932	83	114
129	Benin	10,323,000	85	1962	147	116
130	Panama	3,405,813	135	1937	99	117
131	Angola	20,609,294	56	1979	179	117.5
132	Puerto Rico	3,615,086	132	1940	106	119
133	Togo	6,191,155	109	1960	134	121.5
134	Papua New Guinea	7,398,500	99	1962	147	123
135	Montenegro	620,029	168	1931	80	124
136	Rwanda	10,537,222	80	1972	169	124.5
137	Cyprus	865,878	163	1934	89	126
138	New Caledonia	258,958	182	1928	71	126.5
139	Grenada	103,328	191	1924	62	126.5
140	Libya	6,202,000	108	1962	147	127.5
141	Kazakhstan	17,186,000	61	1992	197	129
142	Kuwait	3,065,850	137	1952	122	129.5
143	United Arab Emirates	45,426,200	95	1971	167	131
144	F.Y.R. Macedonia	2,062,294	146	1949	116	131
145	Central African Republic	4,616,000	122	1961	143	132.5
146	Fiji	858,038	164	1938	101	132.5
147	Antigua & Barbuda	86,295	195	1928	71	133
148	Bermuda	64,237	198	1928	71	134.5
149	Sierra Leone	6,190,280	110	1967	160	135
150	Vanuatu	264,652	181	1934	89	135
151	Mongolia	2,931,300	141	1959	131	136
152	Congo	4,448,000	126	1962	147	136.5
153	Gambia	1,849,000	151	1952	122	136.5
154	Macau	598,200	169	1939	104	136.5
155	Aruba	101,484	193	1932	83	138
156	Mauritania	3,461,041	134	1961	143	138.5
157	Mauritius	1,257,900	158	1952	122	140
158	Belarus	9,468,100	91	1989	191	141
159	Qatar	2,045,239	148	1960	134	141
160	South Sudan	11,296,000	74	2011	209	141.5
161	St Kitts and Nevis	54,000	201	1932	83	142
162	San Marino	33,540	204	1931	80	142
163	Tahiti	183,645	185	1938	101	143
164	Azerbaijan	9,477,100	90	1992	197	143.5
165	Equatorial Guinea	1,622,000	155	1960	134	144.5
166	Bahrain	1,234,571	160	1957	129	144.5
167	Iceland	325,671	178	1947	111	144.5
168	Liechtenstein	36,942	203	1934	89	146
169	Gabon	1,672,000	154	1962	147	150.5
170	Eritrea	6,333,000	107	1992	197	152
171	Brunei Darussalam	393,162	175	1959	131	153
172	Oman	3,957,000	130	1978	177	153.5
173	Kyrgyzstan	5,663,133	112	1992	197	154.5
174	Botswana	2,024,904	149	1970	165	157
175	Turkmenistan	5,240,000	118	1992	197	157.5
176	Swaziland	1,250,000	159	1968	163	161
177	Guinea-Bissau	1,704,000	153	1974	172	162.5
178	Moldova	3,559,500	133	1990	193	163
179	Bosnia-Herzegovina	3,791,622	131	1992	197	164
180	Armenia	3,017,000	139	1992	197	168
181	Bahamas	351,461	176	1967	160	168
182	Namibia	2,113,077	144	1992	197	170.5
183	Djibouti	873,000	162	1979	179	170.5
184	Comoros	743,798	167	1979	179	173
185	Samoa	187,820	183	1968	163	173
186	Solomon Islands	581,344	170	1978	177	173.5
187	Tonga	103,036	192	1965	156	174
188	Bhutan	744,800	166	1983	189	177.5
189	Sao Tome e Principe	187,356	184	1975	174	179
190	Cayman Islands	55,456	200	1966	158	179
191	Cape Verde Islands	491,875	173	1982	187	180
192	Guam	159,358	187	1975	174	180.5
193	Dominica	71,293	197	1970	165	181
194	Belize	349,728	177	1980	186	181.5
195	St Lucia	180,000	186	1979	179	182.5
196	Maldives	317,280	179	1982	187	183
197	Timor-Leste	1,066,409	161	2002	207	184
198	St Vincent & the Grenadines	109,000	189	1979	179	184
199	Seychelles	90,945	194	1979	179	186.5
200	Cook Islands	14,974	207	1971	167	187
201	British Virgin Islands	29,537	206	1974	172	189
202	Montserrat	4,922	209	1973	171	190
203	US Virgin Islands	106,405	190	1989	191	190.5
204	Faroe Islands	48,244	202	1979	179	190.5
205	American Samoa	55,519	199	1984	190	194.5
206	Curacao	150,563	188	2010	208	198
207	Andorra	76,098	196	1994	205	200.5
208	Anguilla	13,452	208	1990	193	200.5
209	Turks and Caicos Islands	31,458	205	1996	206	205.5

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