2020
THE QUESTION
The CONCACAF (Football Federation of North and Central America and the Caribbean) wanted to develop a fair and transparent ranking in 2020 to be used for draw, placement and pot allocation for different tournaments. In addition, CONCACAF had the ambition to change the competition structure to make football more attractive. Hypercube has been asked to think along about a new ranking system, in line with the new competition structure that CONCACAF had in mind.
HYPERCUBE’S RANKING
The developed ranking is based on the zero-sum system. This type of ranking has the advantage that it is reliable when not all countries have played against each other. There are large differences in size and playing strength between the countries that belong to CONCACAF. Big countries like Mexico and the USA, but also small states like Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago are part of CONCACAF. In practice, the big countries do not often play against the small countries, because they do not meet often in tournaments. In this case, the zero- sum system makes it possible to objectively compare countries that have never played against each other.
RESULT
The new ranking has been successfully implemented and can be found on the website of CONCACAF. In the CONCACAF Nations League, the ranking is used for draw, placement and pot classification. The countries are satisfied with this. The ranking also plays an important role for the World Cup qualification.
