The BFFA World

The BFFA has been host to 96 teams from all over the globe. Some have been very successful, others have been…not so successful. But even for the teams that haven’t yet managed to claim any trophies, there is still the glory of beating the big sides. Not every giant-killing and upset will be remembered, but they will be counted. These are the BFFA World Rankings. Racking up wins gets you to the top. Beating the best teams gets you there quicker.

The Rise and Fall of the Forty – 2024/25

World Ranking positions by Gameweek, Season 11:

How are the points worked out?

Every team enters the rankings with 1000.00 points and then gain or lose points depending on whether they win, lose or draw, and on the strength of the opposition.

The points available in each game are a fraction of the match value. To keep a similar standard as FIFA, our League games are worth a maximum of 25 points, early knockout matches (Qualifiers, CL Group Stage, 1st-, 2nd- and 3rd-Rounds) are worth upto 50 points and the later KO matches (QF’s/SF’s/Finals) – upto 60 points.

In each match, the total points are split according to the relative strength of each team, i.e. the difference in points between them. The maximum number of points available is split two ways to set a value for what a win is worth to both teams. If either team wins, they gain that share of the total and their opponents are deducted the same amount. The weaker team in each game have the potential to win the greater share of those points, while the higher-ranked teams stand to earn less. And if it’s a draw, the weaker team is awarded a smaller number of points while the stronger team are normally deducted points.

An example…? That would help!
But this box does involve maths, so fair warning.

Team A has 1500.00 points and Team B have 1200.00 when they meet in the League.
A League win is worth a share of 25 points.
The difference between their ranking scores is 300.00.
The FIFA formula (below) works out the split as 6.01/18.99
(and 6.01+18.99 = 25, in case you were wondering).

What this means is:
If Team A (the historically stronger team) win, they will gain 6.01 points and Team B will lose the same amount, 6.01.
But if Team B win, they gain a mighty 18.99 points, and Team A lose 18.99.

So the lower-ranked teams always have more to gain and less to lose.

But what if it’s a draw?
Well, given that Team A is expected to win, if it ends in a tie then they would get negative points and Team B would get positive points. In the above example, the 6.01/18.99 split is 6.49 points out from the median (since 25÷2 = 12.50). So if this game was drawn, Team A get -6.49; Team B get +6.49.

Note that the difference in World Ranking points is the key. Any two teams with the same 300-point difference would face the same scenario.
Also, the match score doesn’t matter, only the result – Win, Lose or Draw.

There is a further useful addendum which is that (similar to FIFA) results from tournament matches produce no negative points. This means that in the BFFA, negative points are only given in League matches. Therefore, a good run in the Champions League or the Cup, for example, can generate a lot of ranking points, and being knocked-out does not count against you. It happens.

FIFA’s formula is available in the .pdf link below, but essentially it looks like this:
Points (gained/lost) = I x (R – E)
I = Importance (total match value: 25, 50 or 60)
R = Result (Win = 1; Draw = 0.5; Loss = 0)
E = Win Expectation (which is: 1 / 10^(-D/600)+1); D = Difference in WR points between the two teams

Current FIFA / Coca-Cola World Ranking System:
https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/f99da4f73212220/original/edbm045h0udbwkqew35a-pdf.pdf