New Zealand’s Futsal Whites have been ranked 19th in the first-ever release of global futsal world rankings by FIFA.
The sport’s governing body has launched an official FIFA Futsal World Ranking system to rate men’s and women’s teams, as they do with national teams for the 11-a-side game.
The Futsal Whites, who will go to their first-ever FIFA Futsal World Cup, have achieved their 19th ranking in a list of 139 nations whose performances have been measured.
READ MORE: Futsal World Cup qualifications complete with 24 nations confirmed >>>>
Main photo: New Zealand’s national men’s futsal team … in the top 20 of the first FIFA rankings. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.
The Futsal Ferns are ranked 26th of the 69 nations included in the first set of ratings produced for women’s teams.
Futsal Whites head coach Marvin Eakins said: “It’s great to have FIFA finally release an official ranking system for futsal for both the men’s and women’s teams.
“To have the Futsal Whites recognised as a top 20 team is a huge honour, and it’s a testament to the work the entire futsal community has put in across the country to continually grow the game and push for higher and higher standards.
“The World Cup is massive for New Zealand futsal, so we want to make sure we seize the moment and continue the momentum of what we have been building.”
Brazil are ranked first in both the men’s and women’s lists.
Though the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Rankings for football have existed since December 1992 and women’s senior national football teams have been officially ranked by FIFA since 2003, that has not previously been the case for futsal.
However, the indoor game has enjoyed exponential growth in recent years and this milestone moment represents the natural next step, as well as being the first time FIFA men’s and women’s rankings have been launched concurrently.
New Zealand heads the Oceania rankings
The New Zealand men’s team are the highest-ranked country in the Oceania Football Confederation, followed by Tahiti (45), the Solomon Islands (59), New Caledonia (65), Vanuatu (71), Fiji (77), American Samoa (115), Samoa (132) and Tonga (137).
The New Zealand women are also the highest-ranked team from OFC, with New Caledonia the other ranked women’s team at 33.
Broadcasts of the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Lithuania in 2021 attracted an average of 2.42 million viewers per match, a 130% increase on the previous edition in 2016.
The 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Uzbekistan — which is set to be the first FIFA tournament to be staged in Central Asia — is likely to improve even on those numbers, and a historic first FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup will be held in 2025.
Against this backdrop, FIFA has rolled out global rankings for its member associations’ women’s and men’s senior futsal national teams in recognition of the dynamic development of and global interest in the sport.
How the rankings have been calculated
The initial rankings have been based on statistics gathered from more than 4,600 “A” matches.
FIFA defines an international “A” match as a match between two FIFA members for which both members field their first representative team (“A” team).
The new rankings system will also serve to seed teams for all upcoming editions of the FIFA Futsal World Cup, including during the draw to be made on May 26 for the 2024 competition in Uzbekistan.
The system will likewise be used for qualification processes and enable comprehensive and consistent data to be gathered to monitor member associations in accordance with the FIFA Regulations Governing International Matches.
That will support the prevention of practices that jeopardise the integrity of the sport, such as match manipulation.
In the nine editions of the FIFA Futsal World Cup to date, the inaugural top-ranked men’s side, Brazil, have been crowned world champions five times and only failed to finish on the podium once. They are closely followed in the chart by Portugal, who arrive at this year’s FIFA Futsal World Cup as the title holders and have won the last two European crowns.
Portugal’s Iberian neighbours Spain — double FIFA Futsal World Cup winners (2000 and 2004) and seven-time European champions — are third in the standings.
Brazil’s women’s national team have been just as dominant as their male counterparts, having won all seven of the South American championships that they have contested. Spain and Portugal are again behind them in the women’s ranking, albeit in reverse order: three-time European champions Spain are second, with Portugal – who have finished runners-up to their Iberian rivals in two continental finals – in third.
Fans interested in attending the 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup Uzbekistan 2024 can register to receive ticketing updates here.
Men’s rankings
Released on May 7, 2024
1 Brazil
2 Portugal
3 Spain
4 IR Iran
5 Argentina
6 Morocco
7 Russia
8 Kazakhstan
9 Thailand
10 France
11 Uzbekistan
12 Ukraine
13 Paraguay
14 Georgia
15 Japan
16 Croatia
17 Finland
18 Italy
19 NEW ZEALAND
20 Serbia
21 Venezuela
22 Poland
23 Czechia
24 Slovenia
25 Romania
26 Colombia
27 Uruguay
28 Indonesia
29 Azerbaijan
30 Afghanistan
31 Costa Rica
32 Armenia
33 Vietnam
34 Tajikistan
35 Kuwait
36 Netherlands
37 Egypt
38 Belarus
39 Hungary
40 Guatemala
41 Kyrgyz Republic
42 Iraq
43 Slovakia
44 Panama
45 Tahiti
46 Belgium
47 Angola
48 Saudi Arabia
49 Australia
50 Libya
51 South Africa
52 Peru
53 Lebanon
54 Bosnia and Herzegovina
55 Germany
56 Myanmar
57 El Salvador
58 North Macedonia
59 Solomon Islands
60 Honduras
61 Moldova
62 Equatorial Guinea
63 Kosovo
64 Laos
65 New Caledonia
66 Turkmenistan
67 Andorra
68 Canada
69 Curaçao
70 Korea Republic
71 Vanuatu
72 Albania
73 Bahrain
74 Cyprus
75 USA
76 Côte d’Ivoire
77 Fiji
78 Cuba
79 Malaysia
80 England
81 Jordan
82 Denmark
83 Sweden
84 China PR
85 Chinese Taipei
86 Lithuania
87 Latvia
88 Mexico
89 Austria
90 Zambia
91 Chile
92 Montenegro
93 Qatar
94 Wales
95 Philippines
96 Oman
97 Türkiye
98 Mozambique
99 Bulgaria
100 Norway
101 Suriname
102 United Arab Emirates
103 Malta
104 Israel
105 Ecuador
106 Nicaragua
107 Algeria
108 Bolivia
109 Greece
110 Maldives
111 Timor-Leste
112 Comoros
113 Mongolia
114 Trinidad and Tobago
115 American Samoa
116 Brunei Darussalam
117 Macau
118 Mauritius
119 Switzerland
120 Hong Kong, China
121 Nepal
122 Palestine
123 Dominican Republic
124 Cambodia
125 Guinea
126 Gibraltar
127 Northern Ireland
128 Mauritania
129 Estonia
130 Scotland
131 Somalia
132 Samoa
133 Haiti
134 San Marino
135 India
136 Ghana
137 Tonga
138 Tanzania
139 Namibia
Women’s rankings
Released on May 7, 2034
1 Brazil
2 Spain
3 Portugal
4 Argentina
5 Colombia
6 Thailand
7 Russia
8 IR Iran
9 Japan
10 Italy
11 Paraguay
12 Ukraine
13 Vietnam
14 Indonesia
15 Netherlands
16 Uruguay
17 Poland
18 Finland
19 Venezuela
20 Costa Rica
21 Chinese Taipei
22 Sweden
23 Hungary
24 Uzbekistan
25 China PR
26 NEW ZEALAND
27 Bolivia
28 Malaysia
29 Lebanon
30 Ecuador
31 Hong Kong, China
32 Armenia
33 New Caledonia
34 Palestine
35 Nicaragua
36 Belgium
37 Bahrain
38 Myanmar
39 Turkmenistan
40 Romania
41 Croatia
42 Belarus
43 Serbia
44 Bangladesh
45 Bosnia and Herzegovina
46 Macau
47 Northern Ireland
48 Afghanistan
49 Slovakia
50 Slovenia
51 Saudi Arabia
52 Kazakhstan
53 Iraq
54 Peru
55 United Arab Emirates
56 France
57 Chile
58 Czechia
59 Morocco
60 Guam
61 Philippines
62 Kuwait
63 Latvia
64 Moldova
65 Gibraltar
66 Kyrgyz Republic
67 Oman
68 Lithuania
69 Tajikistan