Azkals finish 2012 at 147th in FIFA rankings, most improved nation in ELO

In the final FIFA rankings of 2012, the Philippines has fallen four places to 147, which is still the highest they've been at the end of a year, to top possibly the best year of Philippine football in history.

The Azkals began with a third place finish in the Challenge Cup, which was followed by winning the Peace Cup against Guam, Macau, and Chinese Taipei, for the first trophy the Azkals won since 1913. 2012 was then capped off with a second successive semifinal stint in the AFF Suzuki Cup.

Despite having beaten Vietnam and Myanmar on the way to the semifinals of the latter tourney, the Philippines still fell four ranks, a tumble which is due more to the time of year than recent results. Indeed only Myanmar and the Philippines fell in the rankings, while the other nations in South East Asia saw modest rises as can be seen in the table below.


South East Asian Rankings

131	Vietnam	Up seven places
136	Thailand	Up sixteen places
147	Philippines	Down four places
154	Singapore	Up nine places
156	Indonesia	Up nine places
158	Malaysia	Up five places
162	Myanmar	Down six places
171	Laos	Up six places
182	Brunei	Up five places
182	Timor Leste	Up five places
184	Cambodia	Up seven places

The drop does mean that Thailand leapfrogs the Philippines into second place in the region, though somewhat surprisingly Vietnam holds onto their top spot in South East Asia despite picking up only one point in the Suzuki Cup group stage and playing no other games since the last release.

Ahead of the Suzuki Cup Final, Singapore climbs back to 154th in the world, up nine places, after navigating their way through Group B with wins over Malaysia and Laos, while the draw and win over the Philippines in the two legs of the semifinals definitely improves their ratings. They are now rated the fourth best side in the region.

A successful 2012

For 2012, the Azkals have played 23 matches against international opposition, of which the Azkals have won eleven (48%), drawn six (26%), and lost six (26%). However the results which counted for this month’s rankings were those in the Suzuki Cup and their victory over Singapore on November 16 in Cebu.


Despite beating the top regional side in Vietnam and the fourth best regional side in Myanmar at the time, now seventh in the latest ratings, the Philippines drop the places as they previously underwent qualification – which meant they racked up wins and therefore points in previous years. It’s also one of the anomalies of the FIFA Ranking system as the Philippines often falls in the rankings at the time of year when South East Asia generally rises, while the Philippines rise at the times of year when South East Asia generally falls.

ELO Ratings

Meanwhile in the ELO Ratings, the best alternative to the FIFA Rankings, the Philippines are rated 157th in the world. The difference of ten places between their FIFA and ELO ratings is due largely to the increased number of countries that are within the ELO Rating system, 232 as compared to FIFA’s 209.
 
Showing the great progress of the country, the Philippines ended the year for the second successive time as the most improved nation in the world. A part of that is the sheer number of games the Philippines played but also the quality of their opponents. Going into the Suzuki Cup, the Philippines had played a higher rated set of opponents than the rest of their group and had managed to earn a draw against Bahrain and a closely-fought loss with Kuwait.

To be the most improved country in the world for two years is perhaps unprecedented and shows remarkable progress on even last year’s results as the Azkals added 143 points to their ELO rating, which is now 1193. Only three other countries in the world have improved their ELO rating by more than 100 points in the last twelve months, and for the Philippines to do so two years in a row is a very impressive achievement.  - AMD, GMA News