USMNT - FIFA WORLD RANKING HISTORY - 2010-2021 (Part Two)
Part Two Of A Chronological Journey Tracking The USMNT's All Time FIFA Ranking
If you read part-one then you know that in the most recent FIFA World Rankings the USMNT was ranked at #10. This is the United States highest ranking since 2006. Back in ‘06 they would eventually have a really disappointing showing at the World Cup in Germany (that’s in the past now). To recap’ part-one; the U.S. would then drop off tremendously in the word rankings and in late 2006 they would find themselves at #31 in the world.
So what happened next…?
How did the USMNT grow in the rankings back to #10 in present-day?
We last left off in the year 2009. With the end of the 2000s quickly approaching the USMNT were gearing up for an appearance at the 2010 World Cup. A World Cup that would be held in Africa for the very first time. Coming off of a solid showing at the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa the United States was poised to take this momentum into the World Cup championship.
The U.S. would be ranked at #14 going into the 2010 World Cup. They would be a couple of places ahead of El-Tri & ready to make up for the embarrassment back in ‘06. Under a new head coach Bob Bradley the United States Men’s National Team would be drawn into ‘Group C.’
Their first match would be against England.
In a much anticipated battle the USMNT were able to grind out a 1-0 draw due to Robert Green’s famous blunder off the foot of Clint Dempsey in the ‘40th minute.
Following this match the USMNT would set their sites on the rest of ‘Group C.’ In the end the USMNT would end up winning the group. The U.S. would tie Slovenia 2-2 in the second match…and in one of the more dramatic matches in USMNT World Cup history the United States would defeat Algeria to advance into the ‘round of 16.
Ultimately the United States would be eliminated in the ‘Round of 16’ by Ghana. Following the USMNT first knock-out ‘round appearance since the 2002 World Cup (when the USMNT made it to the quarter finals) the U.S. saw their overall FIFA ranking increase by one spot to #13 in the world.
Over the course of the next couple of years following the 2010 World Cup the USMNT would drop in the rankings. Similar to their slide following the ‘06 World Cup, the red-white-and-blue would see their worst ranking ever during the July 2012 FIFA rankings (only two years after their heroics at the 2010 World Cup. So what lead to the USMNT dropping to #35 in the world during the July 2012 FIFA rankings?
At this time the team was somewhat in a transitional period. Jurgen Klinsmann had taken over the helm and the USMNT. The U.S. was caught between their success leading up to the 2010 World Cup…and in the wake of the 2014 World Cup. Below are the highlights of their 4-1 loss to Brazil on May 30th, 2012.
This was only a friendly but I would like to feature the USMNT starting XI at this time (this starting XI will look very different in only a couple of years for the 2014 World Cup):
If you remember it was at this time that Klinsmann had begun his scouting of players with American passports overseas. I would like you to pay specific attention to the USMNT ‘back four’ in this picture. In fact…the majority of these players would not feature at the 2014 World Cup (we’ll get there).
It was at this time that the USMNT would then follow up this match with a tie over Canada in a friendly…and draw against Guatemala in a World Cup qualifying match. These 3 matches certainly called for the U.S. to drop far down into the rankings. With the 2014 World Cup qualifiers underway, Klinsmann had to do something, and fast.
On June 2nd, 2013 the USMNT would celebrate their centennial at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. Almost a year to the day from their 4-1 loss against Brazil, the USMNT were able to avenge their poor form. At this time of this match the USMNT were ranked #29 in the world. The Germans were ranked #2…and unlike the match against Brazil, the starting XI looked completely different:
Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, and Steve Cherundolo were nowhere to be found in the back-line. Maurice Edu, Herculez Gomez, Jose Torres were nowhere to be found in the attack half. This team was entirely different…and it was after this match that the USMNT would go on a 11 game winning streak.
The USMNT would finally lose to Costa Rica on September 6th, 2013. At this point in time the U.S. would be #19 in the world…only to be ranked #13 following this loss in the September 2013 rankings.
So let’s fast forward to the next major event, and the last World Cup the USMNT competed in, the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Going into this tournament the USMNT would be ranked at #13 in the world at the start of this tournament. El-Tri would be ranked at #20. This tournament for the United States saw them advance once again to the ‘round of 16 where they would get absolutely outplayed by now the world’s #1, Belgium. If it wasn’t for Tim Howard’s amazing heroics with a World Cup record 16 saves, this match could have easily been a blowout.
Either way the USMNT would once again for the second-straight World Cup advance to the ‘round of 16. Following this World Cup the U.S. would be ranked at #15 in the world. Unfortunately for the U.S. this would be their last World Cup since they’d miss out on qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. So for sake of your time…let’s fast forward to that fateful match vs. Trinidad & Tobago.
The date was October 10th, 2017. This is a date that will certainly be remembered as the worst performance in U.S. soccer history. I’ll just leave this video here:
Following this match the USMNT would then be forced to re-build. If you look at the chart below since the USMNT failed to miss the World Cup in 2018 the team has been on steady incline in terms of rankings. I guess once you hit ‘rock bottom’ the only place to go us up.
So today I am proud to say that the USMNT is ranked #10 in the world. This ranking is honestly quite remarkable considering on October 10th, 2017 our lineup against Trinidad & Tobago looked like this:
In our most recent ‘best XI’ showing against Mexico in the CONCACAF Nation’s League Final our starting XI looked like this:
I think it’s easy to say that at this moment in time I’ve never been more proud & excited to be a USMNT fan. In terms of the FIFA World Rankings this group of players (see above) has their eyes not only set on a higher ranking than the 2006 USMNT squad, but also at potential World Cup glory.
I’ll let you be the judge…do you think we’ll see the USMNT take the #1 spot in the FIFA Global Rankings?
Who knows…but at least one thing is for certain…after reading ‘part-one’ & now ‘part-two,’ you know how far we’ve come.
Thank you so much for tuning into State Of Soccer Weekly.
I will see you all next week…and until next time…
GO USMNT!!