Dan_The_Red said:

Disgrace for Italy to be 15th. Can't even progress to the WC from the top 16 euro teams

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When I looked up the UEFA WC qualifiers, Norway beat Italy twice in the group stage.

Then they couldn't qualify through the UEFA play offs.

It is the third time in a row they've failed to qualify for the WC - Russia, Qatar and Canada/Mexico/USA.

Does this question the calibre of the 40% domestic Italian players playing in Serie A? Or are the game plans devised by Italian national coaches flawed?

Should this effect Serie A's status as a UEFA Big Five league?

Germany has left early in the last 2 WCs, but the other 3 UEFA Big Five league national teams - Spain, France and England - have excelled at the last WCs.

Mr Cleansheets said:

Italy are a puzzlement.

On any given day they'd be a good chance of beating anyone ranked in the top 20, and yet they fall apart when it comes to WC qualification.

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Germany are apparently terrified of playing Italy in big comps.

LFC said:

Having looked at the FIFA ranking we are
28 - down one spot since the WC.
Interestingly you can view our historical ranking from '92 to date.
'92 we were ranked 45 originally by '96 50th.
The graph is fascinating viewing.
USA 16th.
Turkiye 27.
Paraguay 34.

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Interesting looking at the original post WC tournament rankings compared to FIFA.

Paraguay 34 for FIFA and 16 in WC end of tournament rankings.

They are mentally tough. They came back well from their USA thrashing.

Kitwally said:

FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking

See latest status of the FIFA-Coca Cola Men's World Ranking

inside.fifa.com

Paraguay are 34.

I’d suggest reading others posts in addition to writing your own posts?

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That is what I said.

Paraguay are 34 according to FIFA.

16 for the post WC tournament rankings.

McZero said:

Disappointing that we just came 22nd, but then drop a place. I guess there was at least one WC team ranked lower than us that massively over performed well knocking us down? Still I think we have a lot of unrealised potential

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A few years ago I was despondent after Aus being knocked out of the Asian Cup. We had drawn with Uzbekistan, and looked no better, then IMO South K played us off the park, despite us having a few good chances on the break. The future looked bleak.

Then Grazor kept at me highlighting the young talent coming through. I didn't have Paramount at the time and saw just a bit of AL football on FTA. I subscribed to Paramount ( thanks Muz, pointing out how cheap it was), and saw Jake Hollman do some pretty impressive things within a few minutes of watching. Then I watched a lot of the Aus u23s . Low and behold we have a new gen of Aussie technical whizz kids!

Even now I would venture that Souttar, O'Neill and McGree ( just), would be the only players selected over the age of 25 based on current performance for the Roos.

Whether we are 22 ranked, or 28, if these young guys can play a lot of club football at a reasonable level, the future is promising. We also have a lot more potential depth. Even with dual nationals choosing other nations, there are many young players desperate to play for the Roos.