European and African continental qualifiers marked the end of the season with little Liechtenstein shocking the visiting Lithuanians 2-0 while Estonia were humiliated by the same result at the Faroe Islands. Bosnia & Herzegovina surrendered 3-0 in Romania and Azerbaijan lost 2-1 away to Kazakhstan while Denmark picked up a 2-0 win in Iceland. England moved down the rankings after being held to a 2-2 draw by Switzerland at Wembley while Sweden enjoyed a goal-rich week, winning 4-1 in Moldova before returning home to hammer their neighbours from Finland 5-0 a few days later. The Irish Republic also enjoyed a successful period with a 2-0 win in Macedonia and 2-0 friendly triumph over Italy in Belgium.
In Africa Algeria were taken apart 4-0 in Morocco and Benin were crushed 6-2 by their Ivorian visitors while Nigeria were held to a 2-2 draw in Ethiopia. Cape Verde lost to a single goal in Liberia and Tanzania lost 2-1 away to the Central African Republic while Libya drew 1-1 in Comoros. Namibia were beaten 4-1 at home to Burkina Faso and Rwanda lost 3-1 in Burundi while in a friendly match Argentina were pummelled 4-1 in Nigeria.
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4 comments:
Chile (6°) defeated Mexico (4°). Why didn't Mexico lose score?
Thank you for your question. The match in question was not a full international as Mexico (like Costa Rica) have sent their under 22 team to the Copa America.
That was the official information at the beginning, and I thought your ranking must have followed that criterion. However, I heard that at least Mexico (I don't know about Costa Rica) was allowed to include a limited amount of players from the adult national team among their U-23 team. In fact, I saw players such as Rafael Márquez and a 31-year-old defender during some of their matches. Note that other rankings such as Elo have reduced their ratings since their results right after the CONCACAF Gold Cup, so they must be considering their team in Copa América as an adult team anyway ("They chose to play with a limited team, it's their responsibility" or so).
Thank you Ayante for your comment. Mexico and Costa Rica sent their under 22 teams in preparation for next year's Olympics where they must be under 23. In the Olympics 3 over-age players can also be used. This is why you see a 31 year old taking part. It is hard to imagine the full Mexico team finishing bottom of their group.
Elo may have counted the matches as full internationals, but this was not the case with the roonba rankings. I have been in touch with the Mexican football association and will make new calculations if I receive concrete proof that the matches were meant as full internationals with the manager choosing to try out some young players rather that the Olympic teams getting some practice.
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