But, at the same time, I can not understand how the hell the team is ranked #16 on the latest FIFA Word Ranking, before teams who have participated in major tournaments (World Cup, Euro, etc.), like Greece, Ukraine, Mexico, United States, Paraguay or Ghana.

The ranking algorithm FIFA uses simply does not do what it is says it is supposed to do: “Under the existing system, rankings are based on a team’s performance over the last four years, with more recent results and more significant matches being more heavily weighted to help reflect the current competitive state of a team.” (source: wikipedia).

FIFA should hire some search experts to tune up the algorithm and its relevance. Otherwise, it is just a matter of time before Israel passes England.

FIFA world ranking - oct 2008 (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Rankings)