FIFA rankings

[Rjk]

Wales up to 17th. good effort.

the team in 16th are the Netherlands, and the only non uefa teams above us are Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Columbia

[the other bob wilson]

Wales up to 17th. good effort.

the team in 16th are the Netherlands, and the only non uefa teams above us are Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Columbia

What's very impressive is that, as the chart in the link shows, we've all but maintained a top twenty place for six years. That's a tremendous achievement for a country of our size.

https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/associations/association/WAL/men/

[MOZZER2]

for a country our size that's a great effort from our National Team

[Rjk]

as Elis James out it on his Twitter - a great achievement for a country so small that a place like Llanelli is considered a big place

[Monster munch]

Toshack blooding the youngsters in the late 2000's has helped create a consistent squad. Speed and Coleman then took it on to the next level with a bubbling set of players who were also friends and its just kicked on ever since.
Also playing our home matches in front of a near packed CCS i think has helped. Creating a home and identity for the national team, fans have settled into preferred areas, Wales home games have now been great fun and atmosphere i don't think ive seen in my lifetime (i started wales games in the early 90's rush/hughes/horne era).
We had the odd one or two good days in the Millenium (Italy win, Azerbaijan 4-0) but it just never felt home and there were a lot of horrible evenings there. The team and fans just couldn't settle there.
Lets keep it going. Rising the rankings proves the better group draws and we actually can get to some of these tournaments and more likely to qualify for. When we used to be drawn 4/5th seed we never stood a chance. Been a lot of hard work over the last 15 years.

[Des Parrot]

Their new ranking algorithm is a big improvement as well. Under the old scheme we’d have dropped further once the Euro16 points dropped off. The new scheme is more stable and avoids big fluctuations.

[Rjk]

Toshack blooding the youngsters in the late 2000's has helped create a consistent squad. Speed and Coleman then took it on to the next level with a bubbling set of players who were also friends and its just kicked on ever since.
Also playing our home matches in front of a near packed CCS i think has helped. Creating a home and identity for the national team, fans have settled into preferred areas, Wales home games have now been great fun and atmosphere i don't think ive seen in my lifetime (i started wales games in the early 90's rush/hughes/horne era).
We had the odd one or two good days in the Millenium (Italy win, Azerbaijan 4-0) but it just never felt home and there were a lot of horrible evenings there. The team and fans just couldn't settle there.
Lets keep it going. Rising the rankings proves the better group draws and we actually can get to some of these tournaments and more likely to qualify for. When we used to be drawn 4/5th seed we never stood a chance. Been a lot of hard work over the last 15 years.

On the other hand, if our ranking hadn't dropped so low under toshack we wouldn't have had to try to qualify from 5th pot for a couple of tournaments

[Grangenders]

Their new ranking algorithm is a big improvement as well. Under the old scheme we’d have dropped further once the Euro16 points dropped off. The new scheme is more stable and avoids big fluctuations.

Yes it seems much better. Given the increasing weightings for reaching quarter finals in major tournaments, it would be interesting to see what our position we would be if we hadn’t beaten Belgium in the last euros

[Eric the Half a Bee]

On the other hand, if our ranking hadn't dropped so low under toshack we wouldn't have had to try to qualify from 5th pot for a couple of tournaments


That side would have sunk there regardless of Toshack or anyone else being manager. In reality, we had one good year in years of dross. Hughes should have gone after the Russia playoff. Ageing players who were past it retired when he got sacked. It needed changing even though on the pitch our results and sometimes performances were woeful.

If we were to completely alter the philosophy of Cardiff City football club I'd expect some barren years.

[Rjk]

That side would have sunk there regardless of Toshack or anyone else being manager. In reality, we had one good year in years of dross. Hughes should have gone after the Russia playoff. Ageing players who were past it retired when he got sacked. It needed changing even though on the pitch our results and sometimes performances were woeful.

If we were to completely alter the philosophy of Cardiff City football club I'd expect some barren years.

You could also say thaat the young players that toshack gave debuts to would have played for wales whoever was the manager, as soon as it seeemed like they were any good

[mazadona10]

Don't buy into this youth thing of toshack playing players. The players develop at their clubs not at international call ups. We've had a decent group of players and successful systems.

[surge]

Podcast Pel-droed discussing Toshack and what his legacy should be in three parts:

Part 1: https://www.podcastpeldroed.cymru/podcast-91-the-toshack-years-pt1/
Part 2: https://www.podcastpeldroed.cymru/podcast-92-the-toshack-years-part-2/
Part 3: https://www.podcastpeldroed.cymru/podcast-93-the-toshack-years-3/

[Eric the Half a Bee]

You could also say thaat the young players that toshack gave debuts to would have played for wales whoever was the manager, as soon as it seeemed like they were any good

Yes, possibly. But that's not a stick to beat Tosh with. Let's not be that feeble.

[MacAdder]

What I remember from that period was Toshack being a regular pundit on the telly for the Wales games being quite officious in an "I've managed Real Madrid twice" type attitude saying what the manager should be doing tactically and who he'd play where.

He gets the job and doesn't cut it.
He does though blood a few youngsters.

He may well have started the ball rolling internationally for the subsequent aforementioned managers but how much of that was his genius I'm a bit sceptical about.

Re the OP, I echo the fact that this is some achievement for a country the size of Wales but we cannot rest on our laurels, we need to consolidate.

I do hope that the City eventually try something similar over a sustained period. Hopefully it has started!

[Ribeye]

A FEW POINTS

1. How the hell are Belgium no.1 population 11million
2. How are England 4th
3. Uruguay no.9. Now that's a decent ranking for a country with a population of 3.4 million

saying that our ranking looks good compared to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland.

If I were San Marino Fa I'd love to play the teams directly ab ove me to get up the rankings

[19bluebirds27]

When Toshack took over for a 2nd time he said “I won’t get the benefit of this team” referring to the youngsters he had no choice in blooding and capping.

So yea he did take a lot of criticism (in the Cardiff fans eyes because of the history of him) but credit him for getting he the ball rolling.

The biggest credit in my opinion goes to the outgoing Chief Executive Jonathan Ford, not only raising the profile of the FAW off the pitch and bringing us into this century. But the managerial appointments, although everyone questioned them Speed, Coleman, Giggs and Page they have evolved us and gotten us success on the pitch.
They way I see it with the youngsters we got now, those coming though, the fans support home and away - we are going to hit a period of consistency for the and for the next 10 years at least.

The timing of Ford concerns me ( unless he has a bigger job lined up?)
Hope the Giggs situation sorts itself and gives us a boost before the Euros too.

[City123]

And to think we were 117th not that long ago. Remember when that Faroe student complained to Fifa and got us dropped into the bottom pot? Incredible rise since then.