Selection of Data.

Selection of Matches.

• All results are obtained via Mark Cruickshank who also maintains an International Football Website.
  The name of his Website is: The Roon Ba .
• If results of abandoned or annulled matches are stored in The Roon Ba Archive then they are used as such
  for the computation of Rating Scores.
• For prolonged matches the results "After Extra-Time" are used for the computation of Rating Scores.
• The results of series of penalty kicks are not taken into account for the computation of Rating Scores.
• The results of all so-called "Friendly" matches are completely ignored for the computation of Rating Scores.
• Matches in connexion with multi-sport events (Olympic Games, Asian Games etc.) are not taken into account
  for the computation of Rating Scores.

List of Championships and Tournaments.

For all Ranking Tables presented here only results of the following Championships and Tournaments are taken into account.
The results of a regional Tournament however are only included in cases where the edition of the respective tournament serves as qualification for the Continental Championship.

• AFC CHALLENGE CUP
• AFRICAN NATIONS CUP
• ASIAN CUP
• CARIBBEAN CUP
• CCCF TOURNAMENT
• CONCACAF CHAMPIONSHIP
• COPA AMÉRICA
• EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
• MELANESIAN CUP
• OCEANIA NATIONS CUP
• PACIFIC GAMES/WORLD CUP QUALIFIER
• POLYNESIAN CUP
• UNCAF CUP
• WORLD CUP

The selection of match results for the All-time Ranking Tables for the various Continental Championships is described in detail in the Section Championships Definitions.

Presentation of former countries in the Ranking Tables.

Implementation of Political Changes.

Former countries like East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Soviet Union etc. are skipped from the presentation in any Ranking Table as soon as 6 years are passed since they played their last game. For example: East Germany played it's last match in 1989: the name of East Germany therefore appears in the Ranking Tables for the period 1983-1994 (and earlier periods) but is skipped from the Ranking Table for 1984-1995 (and later periods). In the so-called All-time Ranking Tables covering 1995 or later years the name of East Germany is skipped as well. The results of East Germany however are counted for in order to correctly calculate the coefficients for all other countries.

This general rule is applied for still-existing countries as well. For example: In the original Table for the Copa América 1943-1954 Argentina was placed on the first spot. Since Argentina however did not play any match during the last seven years of that period, the name of Argentina is deleted from the presentation of the Ranking Table although all results were taking into account for the computation of the coefficients of all other countries.

Further subjective decisions for results derived from "The Roon Ba" Archive related to political changes:

• All results of Burma (until 1968) are awarded to Myanmar.
• All results of Ceylon (in 1971) are awarded to Sri Lanka.
• All results of Commonwealth of Independent States (in 1992) are awarded to Soviet Union.
  (Note: Soviet Union as well as Russia are presented in the Ranking Tables)
• All results of Congo-Brazzaville (until 1971) are awarded to Congo.
• All results of Congo-Kinshasa (until 1971) are awarded to Democratic Republic of Congo.
• All results of Curaçao (until 1941) are awarded to Netherlands Antilles.
• All results of Dahomey (until 1972) are awarded to Benin.
• All results of Dutch Guiana (until 1972) are awarded to Surinam.
• All results of Khmer Republic (until 1972) are awarded to Cambodia.
• All results of Malagasy Republic (until 1973) are awarded to Madagascar.
• All results of Malaya (until 1960) are awarded to Malaysia.
• All results of New Hebrides (until 1980) are awarded to Vanuatu.
• All results of Representation of Czechs & Slovaks (in 1993) are awarded to Czechoslovakia.
  (Note: Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic as well as Slovakia are presented in the Ranking Tables)
• All results of Rhodesia (in 1969) are awarded to Zimbabwe.
• All results of United Arab Republic (in 1959) are awarded to Egypt.
• All results of Upper Volta (until 1981) are awarded to Burkina Faso.
• All results of Western Samoa (until 1996) are awarded to Samoa.
• All results of Zaïre (until 1996) are awarded to Democratic Republic of Congo.
• In the results of Germany are included all matches played in the period 1953-1990 as: “West Germany”.
  (Note: Germany as well as East Germany are presented in the Ranking Tables)
• In the results of Israel are included all matches played in the period 1934-1938 as: “Palestine”.
  (Note: Israel as well as Palestine are presented in the Ranking Tables)
• In the results of Serbia & Montenegro are included all matches played in the period 1996 –2002 under the name of: “Yugoslavia”.
  (Note: The last match of Serbia & Montenegro for one of the major championships took place in June 2006; thereafter Serbia (matches from September 2006 onwards) and Montenegro (matches from October 2008 onwards) went further as two separate independent states)