Following a record of one win and a loss during the start of the 2022 International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Cup Qualifiers, the Golden Jaguars, Guyana’s senior men’s football team, has secured a ranking of 165th out of 210 affiliated nations.
This was revealed by the world governing body following the official publication of the April rankings. The Guyanese climbed two positions and moved onto 990.65 points for an improvement on their previous ranking. The Golden Jaguars are sandwiched between 164th ranked Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea on 166th.
Guyana’s best ever ranking was 86th and was achieved in 2010. On the other hand, their worst position was 185th in 2004. Overall, Guyana’s average ranking has been 150th. The next ranking is set to be published May 27th. The Golden Jaguars return to the international circuit occurred during the month of March this year in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers which was staged in the Dominican Republic.
Guyana lost to Caribbean giant and traditional rival Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 in their opening match. The ‘Soca Warriors’ are currently ranked 103rd. On the other hand, the Guyanese defeated The Bahamas 4-0 in their second fixture. The Bahamas are currently ranked 201st.
The Guyanese will have the chance to improve on their ranking as they return to international play during the month of June and July for the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and the Concacaf Gold Cup Playoffs respectively.
Guyana is scheduled to resume their World Cup qualifying campaign on June 4 when they travel to 135th ranked St. Kitts and Nevis. They will then end their group campaign four days later when they host Puerto Rico, who are positioned 178th.
Similarly, the Golden Jaguars are scheduled to match skills with 127th ranked Guatemala on their path to qualify for their second ever CONCACAF Gold Cup. The two teams were drawn against each other in the first round during the inaugural 2021 CONCACAF Draw.
Following the end of the first round, Guyana, if victorious against Guatemala, will lock horns with the winner of the Guadeloupe and The Bahamas tie for a place in group-C of the actual championship, which is scheduled for the period of July 10th-August 1st.
The men’s FIFA World Ranking is a ranking system for men’s national teams in association football, currently led by Belgium. The teams are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest. The rankings were introduced in December 1992, and eight teams (Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain) have held the top position, of which Brazil have spent the longest ranked first.
A points system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of all FIFA-recognised full international matches.
The ranking system has been revamped on several occasions, generally responding to criticism that the preceding calculation method did not effectively reflect the relative strengths of the national teams. The current version of the ranking system was first used on 16 August 2018, adapted from the Elo rating system used in chess.
