Since their introduction in 1993, the FIFA World Rankings have been the matter of much debate, particularly regarding the calculation procedure and the resulting disparity between generally perceived quality and world ranking of some teams. For example Norway was ranked second in October 1993 and July-August 1995,[5] and the United States reached fourth in 2006, to the surprise of even their own players.
One of the main criticisms prior to July 2006 was that the rankings considered the performances of teams over an eight year period, and that teams' ranking positions did not correlate to their recent performances.[5] This criticism has lessened somewhat with the introduction of a new formula, reflecting results over a four year period, introduced in July 2006.
Another problem of the rankings is that a team that directly qualifies for a major tournament through being the host(s) will not have the chance to gather points by playing competitive qualifying matches, but can only play friendly matches which are weighted lower.
