Why are the USA so rubbish at football but ranked no.6 in the world?
338487
USA No 1!!! U.S.A, U.S.A!!! Yeeeaaahh!! Whooo!!\n\nWhat's an "italy" or a "portugal"? I know what an "england" is, that's something you tie on a lead and drag into warzones so that you're not in it on your own.\n\nBrad Friedel Brian Mcride for president of UK and Brian Mcride for UK first lady!!!!
1082162
That just shows that ranking means nothing..like the US being ranked number 5 ....and it is only based on the north american teams they play
615360
The USA don't get to play many competitive games that affect their rating outside of their own group region and because the quality of their opposition is lacking, then they win a lot which gives them the points to move up in the rankings. For instance, if Scotland or Wales were regularly placed in groups that contained teams made up of dead people, girls and the elderly then they would shoot up the rankings also. Mind up, they probably still would struggle in some of those games.
1167203
Nope, not in the least.  What people seem to not realize is that the FIFA World Rankings are not ranking the teams by their likelihood of winning or their overall abillity.  It is NOT a committy decision.  It is a formula plugged into a computer, nothing more and nothing less.  When you realize that you realize U.S. NOT getting a #1 seed bid (or pick) for the Group Drawings was accurate.  They were not in a group of death seeing as Italy was the only trully strong team (when healthy, which they weren't).  Oh by the way, Italy was ranked something like 14th or something in the Fifa Rankings!  No one voted for the U.S. to be that highly ranked...it was a formula based off of certain things.  The ONLY stat that was right was Brazil being a clear #1.  \nThe only overating that could have been there is from our disrespectful loud mouth Landon Donovan and co.  He has NEVER proven himself EVER on a big stage and never will.  He hasn't score in almost an entire calendar year at an international level (mind you that we have easily one of the weakest qualifying groups...he hasn't scored in close to a year against the likes of Jamaica, Morrocco, Venezuela, Trinidad, Costa Rica, and the list goes on of teams that are far from good).  \nThe only bit of overrated hype and belief came from ESPN, US media, and the U.S. team.  Anyone that watches the game or is from another country KNEW, not wondered, but KNEW this outcome would happen.  The fact we had a chance was a shock (a shock because Ghana has more international superstars than us and the only reason we had a chance was because we played a depleated Czech team and a VERY subpar Italy squad).\n\nSo no, we were not overrated to the world.  We did what we were supposed to.  However, the media here did there typical hype and exaggerations to get fans.  Unfortunately it built the expectations way to high and soccer passion and the growth in the U.S. has taken a huge blow.  We could feel this for quite some time.
1107556
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elo_football_rating This site contains a more accurate world ranking based on a sound mathematical system that takes into account that the euro championships are only played every 4 years hence all European teams play less rank qualifying matches than other teams. If you ask most people in Europe where they would rank the US in the Worlds top 20 teams,most would laugh in your face before saying that the US isn't in the top 20...
305815
Simple.Not only are we hated by most nations for being the leading country,We are also pretty good in Soccer,we got by Mexico in the playoffs last World Cup.What we Americans can fix is respecting the game.It is number 1 in the world while in the USA it is pretty far down in the list.
1014995
that ranking is absolutely rubbish, how can USA & MEXICO ranked higher that ENGLAND, ITALY or NETHERLANDS. even GERMANY is now ranked 19. FIFA should changed the system immediately.
642977
Good question. I saw them play U.S. recently. And although U.S. was missing many stars due to league obligations, Germany won convincingly. Strong team. Good defense. Good tacklers. Never count Germany out. Often, folks count them out and almost every year they go far. Sometimes to the finals. I would say that they have an outside shot. I'd put them in the top ten somewhere. Netherlands, Czech republic, and others would probably rank above them. But I would put my money on Brazil.
467306
Simply put, no!\n\nRankings have come to prominence over the last couple of years but no-one really takes them seriously. It's difficult to say that a system that puts the USA in fourth just because they win more games that teams like Italy, England, Ukraine etc, whose qualifying competitions are always much harder due to the depth of European football.
1072805
Its more of a lack of talent than desire. Most of the people in the U.S. dont even know how to spell soccer, much less play it. Unlike all the other countries in the World Cup, where thats all they do is play soccer. I think we bit off more than we could chew, especially with a #5 ranking that we didint deserve anyway.
1131984
I know, the USA were embarrassingly sad!\nBless their 'soccer' team - its called football!\nIts actually quite satisfying that they are so rubbish at the worlds most popular sport! They are so bad that they had to invent their own games!
235440
The United States are ranked fifth in the latest rankings.\n\nI think they have a real shot.
1089851
USA are useless, they should definately be out of the cup
329666
No, the United States is ranked fourth in the world and there are 8 groups in the World Cup, yet the USA didn't recieve top seeding in a group.  The way it works, is they pick 8 teams to to be the #1 seed, then the rest of the teams are placed in groups (there isn't a seed given to non #1 seeds).  This is supposed to be done so you don't get a group of four super powers like Germany, Brazil, England, and France.
329600
U.S.A. is most overated, ranked 4th in the world cup, please. The reason is because they are trying to market 'soccer' in the U.S.A. Its all a marketing strategy to promote soccer in USA.
1002905
theres no need to bash football .. just because americans suck at it...
1000375
1. Despite the FIFA World Rankings there's no way the U.S. is the 5th best team in the world.  Being ranked that high has probably upped expectations beyond where they should be.  In a group with Italy and the Czech Republic it would be an upset for the U.S. to go through to the next round.\n\n2. As for the rest of your question, unfortunately what many pro sports stars in the U.S. have in abundance, selfishness and arrogance, doesn't lend itself to success in team sports.  So it's no wonder they've done so poorly in international competitions lately.