In late 1997 UEFA prepared a European
national team ranking table based on coefficients or points per match averages calculated from the qualifying
results in European Championship 1996 and World Cup 1998, excluding the playoffs.
Since England, as host
nation, did not participate in qualifying for European Championship 1996, their
points average was caluclated solely on the basis of qualifying results for
World Cup 1998. Similarly, since France, as host
nation, did not take part in qualifying for World Cup 1998, their coefficient
was calculated solely on the basis of qualifying results for the European
Championship 1996. And since conflict in the area prevented Yugoslavia and
Bosnia-Herzegovina from taking part in European Championship 1996, their
coefficients were determined on the basis of qualifying results for World Cup
1998 alone.
England
were ranked 4th in Europe, the same spot they occupied in FIFA's
world ranking prepared at about the same time. While England were
placed behind only Germany and the Czech Republic among European teams in the
FIFA ranking of December, 1997, they were behind Spain, Romania and Russia but
ahead of Germany and the Czech Republic in the UEFA European ranking.
These discrepancies resulted from the differences in the bases the two
organizations use for their rankings, one of which is that the FIFA ranking
takes account of all results, not just qualification results in the major
competitions.
The reasoning behind UEFA's use of
qualification results alone apparently is that they serve as the best basis for
a comparative ranking since all nations but the host country and, in the case of
the World Cup, the reigning champion participate in qualification group play for the major
competitions and because the qualification groups are roughly equivalent in the
difficulty of the competition they provide. UEFA explained its method of ranking as follows:
"the total number of points obtained in the qualifying
rounds of both of the aforementioned competitions have been divided by the
number of matches played. The resulting quotient is used to determine the
ranking. For example, Spain accumulated 26 points in ten matches in EURO 96
producing a coefficient of 2.6. They amassed an identical 26 points in ten games
in the qualifying competition for the 1998 World Cup, leading to a combined
coefficient of 2.6. In the case of those associations that have qualified
automatically for the final rounds of these competitions (ie. England,
Yugoslavia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in EURO 96 and France in the 1998 World Cup),
the coefficient has been calculated by taking into account just those results
achieved in their most recent qualifying round. For example, England's eight
games in qualifying for the 1998 World Cup yielded 19 points, earning them a
coefficient of 2.375. For those teams with identical coefficients, for example
Yugoslavia and Scotland, the following criteria were taken into account:
- Goal difference
- Number of goals scored
- Number of away goals scored
- Drawing lots"
With some modifications, UEFA used the ranking
table to seed the 49 teams particpating in the 2000
European Championship preliminary draw held in Ghent, Belgium on
January 18, 1998. That draw determined the composition of the nine groups
in the 2000 European Championship qualifying competition. Holland and
Belgium, both of which qualified automatically for the 2000 European
Championship final competition as host nations, were excluded from the ranking
list for purpose of the seeding. Although Germany had only the fifth best
coefficient, they were seeded first. Apart from these modifications, UEFA's
seeding for the European Championship 2000 preliminary draw tracked the ranking
table.
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PY
England
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