Why FIFA World Rankings make sense now

Sign up to The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/tifofootball 📗 Tifo's new book, "How to Watch Football" is now available internationally: https://linktr.ee/tifobook Look at the April 2006 FIFA rankings. Brazil are top, but the Czech Republic are second, and the USA are fourth. They would both crash out of the same group at that year’s World Cup, while Italy, ranked 14th, won the tournament. Over the next 10 years, the rankings would appear equally as unpredictable. But in 2026, the top 4 teams all made it to the semi-finals of the World Cup. Let’s explain how the FIFA rankings work, and how