[FM16: Interactive Experiment] - It's an International Game

[Dave.]

“International football is the continuation of war by other means.” – Eric Arthur Blair

With a new edition of Football Manager, it's time for an interactive experiment with a very simple premise: Who really is the greatest international football team? This experiment will cover major international tournaments, including each continental finals, the Confederations and World Cups and a new World Knockout Cup featuring all 225 current national teams. Each of these will have balanced points systems attached to them so that, as we progress through the years, it will be possible to see which national team stands above all others.

But.

Things aren't quite so simple. Along with the general dynamism Football Manager exhibits, you have the power to influence the future. By answering quiz questions, predicting winners and top scorers etc, you'll earn the opportunity to affect the game world. Whether it's by increasing the reputation of your favourite international team, building a brand new stadium, or even introducing the next international superstar, you'll have the power to change things.

Who knows what may happen?

[Dave.]

INTERNATIONAL ALL-TIME RANKINGS

Collated from points earned in the World Cup, World Knockout Cup and Confederations Cup, based on position and tournament reputation (in that order listed), this rankings list charts the relative performance over time of all national sides..

[b][u]Pos	Nation			Points[/b][/u]
1	England			42
2	Argentina		27
3	Belgium			25
4	France			18
5	Serbia			18
6	Portugal		16
7	Netherlands		15
8	Chile			14
9	Germany			13
10	Brazil			13
11	Spain			13
12	Switzerland		11
13	Ukraine			11
14	Wales			10
15	Ghana			10
16	USA			7
17	Colombia		7
18	Czech Republic		7
19	DR Congo		6
20	Russia			5
21	Uruguay			4
22	Poland			4
23	Denmark			4
24	Georgia			4
25	Iraq			4
26	Italy			4
27	Iceland			3
28	Turkey			3
29	South Korea		3
30	Gabon			3
31	Paraguay		3
32	Mexico			2
33	Algeria			2
34	Australia		2
35	Ivory Coast		2
36	Nigeria			2
37	Finland			2
38	Cameroon		2
39	South Africa		2
40	Bosnia & Herzegovina	2
41	Ireland			2
42	Senegal			2
43	Austria			2
44	Greece			2
45	Montenegro		2
46	Canada			2
47	New Zealand		2
48	Morocco			1
49	Japan			1
50	Northern Ireland	1
51	Saudi Arabia		1
52	Norway			1
53	Guatemala		1
54	Congo			1
55	Costa Rica		1
56	Scotland		1
57	Lithuania		1
58	Panama			1
59	Hungary			1
60	Israel			1
61	Belarus			1
62	Sierra Leone		1
63	Sweden			1
64	Cyprus			1
65	Mali			1
66	Slovenia		1
67	Honduras		1

[b]World Cup					World Knockout Cup				Confederations Cup
[u]Year	Champions	Runners-Up		Year	Champions	Runners-Up		Year	Champions	Runners-Up[/b][/u]
2018	England		Argentina		2021	Chile		Serbia     		2021	England		Ghana
					2020	Spain		Belgium			2017	Netherlands	Colombia
					2019	Serbia		Portugal 
                                               2018	France		Czech Republic
                                               2017	Brazil		Argentina
					2016	England		Switzerland

[Dave.]

AFRICAN ALL-TIME RANKINGS

Collated from points earned in the African Cup of Nations, this rankings list charts the relative performance over time of African national sides.

[b][u]Pos	Nation			Points[/u][/b]
1	Morocco			19
2	Tunisia			18
3	Senegal			14
4	Ivory Coast		14
5	Ghana			12
6	Egypt			12
7	Zambia			8
8	Mali			7
9	Nigeria			7
10	Gabon			6
11	Cape Verde		6
12	South Africa		6
13	DR Congo		5
14	Guinea			4
15	Congo			4
16	Burkina Faso		4
17	Cameroon		3
18	Benin			3
19	Algeria			3
20	Equatorial Guinea	2
21	Sudan			2
22	Kenya			1
23	Sierra Leone		1
24	Togo			1
25	Gambia			1
26	Tanzania		1
27	Uganda			1

[b]AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS			               AFRICAN CHAMPIONSHIP OF NATIONS				
[u]Year	Champions	Runners-Up		       Year	Champions	Runners-Up       [/b]	[/u]
2021	Tunisia		Morocco			       2020	Senegal		Morocco
2019	Ghana		Ivory Coast		       2018	Egypt		DR Congo		
2017	Senegal		Morocco			       2016	Ghana		Ivory Coast

ASIAN ALL-TIME RANKINGS

Collated from points earned in the Asian Nations Cup, this rankings list charts the relative performance over time of Asian national sides.

[b][u]Pos	Nation		Points[/u][/b]
1	Iraq		15
2	Australia	10
3	South Korea	8
4	China		7
5	Iran		5
6	Qatar		5
7	Uzbekistan	5
8	Japan		5
9	Bahrain		3
10	Thailand	3
11	Myanmar		3
12	Kuwait		3
13	Lebanon		3
14	Saudi Arabia	3
15	Oman		3
16	UAE		3
17	Jordan		2
18	Malaysia	2
19	North Korea	1
20	Syria		1
21	Hong Kong	1
22	Palestine	1
23	Turkmenistan	1
24	Tajikistan	1

[b]ASIAN NATIONS CUP			EAST ASIAN CUP			WAFF CHAMPIONSHIP		AFF CHAMPIONSHIP	
[u]Year    Champions       Runners-Up    	Year	Champions	        Year	Champions		Year	Champions[/b][/u]   
2019    Iraq	        Australia	2021	South Korea		2020	Saudi Arabia		2020	Malaysia
				2019	South Korea		2018	Kuwait			2018	Thailand
				2017	Japan			2016	Iraq	

EUROPEAN ALL-TIME RANKINGS

Collated from points earned in the European Championship, this rankings list charts the relative performance over time of European national sides.

[b][u]Pos	Nation			Points[/u][/b]
1	Netherlands		20
2	Italy			18
3	England			13
4	Denmark			13
5	Belgium			12
6	Czech Republic		12
7	Austria			8
8	Ukraine			8
9	Germany			8
10	Spain			8
11	Russia			7
12	Croatia			6
13	Portugal		6
14	France			6
15	Bosnia & Herzegovina	6
16	Serbia			6
17	Scotland		5
18	Switzerland		5
19	Turkey			4
20	Romania			4
21	Hungary			2
22	Georgia			2
23	Norway			1
24	Montenegro		1
25	FYR Macedonia		1
26	Iceland			1
27	Poland			1
28	Slovakia		1
29	Wales			1

[b]EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP				        EUROPEAN NATIONS LEAGUE				
[u]Year	Champions	Runners-Up		        Year	  Champions	Runners-Up	Semi-Finalists        [/b]	[/u]
2020	Italy		Denmark		        	2020/21	  Germany	Italy		Russia, Ukraine
2016	England		Netherlands			2018/19	  Germany	England    	Portugal, Ukraine

OCEANIA ALL-TIME RANKINGS

Collated from points earned in the Oceania Nations Cup, this rankings list charts the relative performance over time of South American national sides.

[b][u]Pos	Nation			Points[/u][/b]
1	New Zealand		16
2	Solomon Islands		10
3	Papua New Guinea	6
4	New Caledonia		5
5	Vanuatu			5
6	Tahiti			3
7	Fiji			3
8	Samoa			1
9	American Samoa		1

[b]OCEANIA NATIONS CUP			        PACIFIC GAMES	
[u]Year    Champions       Runners-Up    	        Year	Champions	   Runners-Up       [/b][/u]   
2020    New Zealand	Solomon Islands		2019	Papua New Guinea   Solomon Islands
2016	New Zealand	Solomon Islands

NORTH AMERICAN ALL-TIME RANKINGS

Collated from points earned in the North American Gold Cup, this rankings list charts the relative performance over time of North American national sides.

[b][u]Pos	Nation			Points[/u][/b]
1	Mexico			29
2	Jamaica			21
3	Panama			17
4	Honduras		15
5	USA			12
6	Costa Rica		9
7	Canada			9
8	Guatemala		8
9	El Salvador		6
10	Haiti			5
11	Curacao			4
12	Trinidad & Tobago	4
13	St Kitts & Nevis	3
14	Nicaragua		1
15	Aruba			1

[b]GOLD CUP			            CENTRAL AMERICAN CUP			    CARIBBEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
[u]Year    Champions       Runners-Up          Year      Champions       Runners-Up            Year      Champions       Runners-Up   [/b][/u]
2021	Mexico		Jamaica		    2020      Honduras	      Panama		    2020      Jamaica	      St Kitts & N.
2019    Mexico          Panama              2018      Guatemala       Honduras              2018      Jamaica         Trinidad & T.
2017    Honduras        Jamaica             2016      Honduras        Panama                2016      Trinidad & T.   Jamaica

SOUTH AMERICAN ALL-TIME RANKINGS

Collated from points earned in the Copa America, this rankings list charts the relative performance over time of South American national sides.

[b][u]Pos	Nation		Points[/u][/b]
1	Chile		20
2	Colombia	15
3	Argentina	11
4	Ecuador		9
5	Brazil		8
6	Uruguay		7
7	Venezuela	7
8	Peru		5
9	[i][color="#696969"]Mexico		[/color][/i]5
10	Paraguay	4
11	[i][color="#696969"]USA		[/color][/i]3
12	[i][color="#696969"]Costa Rica	[/color][/i]2
13	[i][color="#696969"]Panama		[/color][/i]2
14	Bolivia		2
15	[i][color="#696969"]Jamaica		[/color][/i]1
16	[i][color="#696969"]Honduras[/color][/i]	        1
17	[i][color="#696969"]Canada		[/color][/i]1

[b]COPA AMERICA				
[u]Year    Champions       Runners-Up [/b][/u]
2019    Chile           Argentina           
2016    Colombia        Chile

[Dave.]

ALL-TIME SUPERSTARS

This list charts all international players to have reached 190 CA or higher - the true superstars of the game.

[u][b]Name		    Nation	Postion	    Caps  Goals	 Intl. Career	PA    CA(high)[/u][/b]
[b]Lionel Messi[/b]	    Argentina	AMRC, FC    184   95	 2005-[i]present[/i]	200   200
Cristiano Ronaldo   Portugal	AMRLC, FC   130   70	 2003-2016	193   193
[b]Paul Pogba[/b]	    France	DM          113   46     2013-[i]present[/i]	192   192
[b]Neymar[/b]		    Brazil	AMLC, FC    136   71     2010-[i]present[/i]	192   192

MOST CAPPED

[u][b]Rank	Name			Nation		Caps[/b][/u]
1	Bader Al-Motawa		Kuwait		188
2	Ahmed Hassan		Egypt		184
=	[b]Lionel Messi[/b]		Argentina	184
4	[b]Michael Bradley[/b]		USA		179
5	Mohamed Al-Deayea	Saudi Arabia	178
6	Claudio Suárez		Mexico		177
7	Nashat Akram		Iraq		171
8	Hossam Hassan		Egypt		169
9	Iván Hurtado		Ecuador		168
=	Petr Cech		Czech Republic	168
=	[b]Andrés Guardado[/b]		Mexico		168
12	Vitalijs Astafjevs	Latvia		165
13	Cobi Jones		USA		164
=	Iker Casillas		Spain		164
=	Wesley Sneijder		Netherlands	164

TOP SCORERS

[u][b]Rank	Name			Nation		Goals[/b][/u]
1	Ali Daei		Iran		109
2	[b]Lionel Messi[/b]		Argentina	95
3	[b]Javier Hernández[/b]		Mexico		90
4	[b]Sergio Aguero[/b]		Argentina	87
5	[b]Edin Dzeko[/b]		Bosnia & Herz	86
6	Ferenc Puskás		Hungary		84
7	Luis Suárez		Uruguay		83
8	Kunishige Kamamoto	Japan		80
9	Hussein Saeed		Iraq		78
=	Dennis Oliech		Kenya		78
11	Pelé			Brazil		77
12	Sándor Kocsis		Hungary		75
=	Bashar Abdullah		Kuwait		75
=	[b]Wayne Rooney[/b]		England		75
15	Majed Abdullah		Saudi Arabia	71
=	Miroslav Klose		Germany		71
=	[b]Neymar[/b]			Brazil		71

[Dave.]

The game begins in November 2015, a month away from the draw for the first round of the inaugural World Knockout Cup, and for the first opportunity to shake things up, before they've even started, can you name the country the draw is taking place?

This country is the nominal "hosts" - although matches take place at whichever team is drawn at home in each fixture, so this is purely ceremonial. The winner of this first challenge is whoever is closest geographically, and of course whoever is first to give that answer. The challenge may close any time, so get your guess in as soon as you can! The potential nations to "host" the Cup are those with 5000 reputation or greater in the official database.

Stay tuned.

[David Corperial]

I'll take a shot at the question with Germany.

[brenosantos]

Holland, maybe?

[jtiessen]

Croatia?

[Dave.]

Currently preparing my ruler and world map should it not be in Europe... It's a safe bet though as more than 50% of nations with 5000+ reputation are European!

[toonbalmy87]

ill go france

[Dave.]

And the winner is...

A slightly left-field choice to be the first "hosts" of FIFA's inaugural annual whole-world tournament, but there we are, the draw will take place in Romania. By guessing Croatia, the closest nation of those guessed to Romania, jtiessen has won the first challenge.

Your reward, should you choose to accept it, is to improve the youth generation ability of any nation you see fit. The statistics that may be improved are show below:

Any three of these may be increased (or in the case of "Controversy", decreased) by a single level (ie. from "below average" to "average"). If "Youth Rating" is chosen, a 25 point increase may be bestowed. This can be done at any point, so feel free to use this power now, or save it for later. The game world will be advanced regardless, and your changes applied as soon as requested.

[Dave.]

PLAYER RECORDS

A quick look at the highest international cap-earners and goal-scorers of all time. Those in bold are still playing, and with more international football than ever before, surely these records are set to tumble?

[jtiessen]

Let's increase the following:

Georgia - Youth Rating, Ambition, Temperament

[Dave.]

WORLD KNOCKOUT CUP - First Round

194 teams entered the competition at the first stage, and half of them left there too. 31 lucky teams were awarded byes to the Second Round. Due to the huge number of teams at the early stages of the tournament, we'll start doing a more detailed round-up from the Fourth Round, and just leave you with some of the more interesting stats so far:

Shock of the Round

Chile 2-2p Zambia

Biggest Win

Jamaica 12-1 Sint Maarten

Top Scorer

Garath McCleary (Jamaica), Ben Mohamed (Comoros) - 5

[Dave.]

Let's increase the following:

Georgia - Youth Rating, Ambition, Temperament

Done! Might take a few years to see if Georgia experience any improvement though.

[Dave.]

WORLD KNOCKOUT CUP - Second Round

Fallen Giants

Brazil 0-2 Portugal

Biggest Attendance

Australia p1-1 Sweden (94,984)

Minnows in the Hat

Martinique 3-1 Guyana (Ranked 196)

[Dave.]

WORLD KNOCKOUT CUP - Third Round

Tough Section of the Draw

Germany 3-1 Portugal

(Not So) Beautiful Game

Uruguay - 2 red, 6 yellow

(U)zbekistan (S)ink (S)orry ®ussia

Russia 1-2e Uzbekistan

[Dave.]

WORLD KNOCKOUT CUP - Fourth Round

A big prize on offer for teams winning their fourth round ties - guaranteed points in the brand new all-time standings. The winner of the cup would stand to gain 8 points, with the runners-up 5, beaten semi-finalists 3, beaten quarter finalists 2, and those who fall in the fifth round 1. For teams like Guatemala, outside of the world's top 100, this is a massive deal - especially considering that the likes of Brazil, Portugal, Uruguay and now Spain (following their defeat at home to Norway) end this tournament pointless. Norway arguably sprung the shock of the round with that victory on penalties in Madrid, although plenty of unfashionable teams have made it to the last 16, and the likes of Benin, Uzbekistan and Albania may feel aggrieved that they ultimately didn't.

At this stage, our second challenge opens - who will end the tournament the highest scorer? Those still active in the tournament are listed below, and with Sergio Aguero, leading the way, atop the list, these players (and others in their teams) are clearly the only ones who can topple him. The first person to name the correct player of course wins, so no prizes for saying "Aguero" or "Rooney" after somebody else already has, and should nobody guess the winner, then whoever scores the most out of those guessed will win. And remember, there are many players on 3 goals or fewer not on this list that may end up topping it - do you give them a chance? A nice prize on offer for the person who wins, and not much time with this one as the remaining tournament round-up will take place later this afternoon, so get guessing!

[jtiessen]

Done! Might take a few years to see if Georgia experience any improvement though.

I figure with any country a youth bump will take time to work itself through. This should put Georgia just under the likes of Croatia et al. that it could be interesting.

[jtiessen]

I think Robin van Persie will go on to be on the top.

[Jakarooney]

I'll say Aguero to be top.

[David Corperial]

I'll go with Burak Yilmaz.

[brenosantos]

Wayne Rooney will be on the top.

[toonbalmy87]

Gareth Bale for me

[grianaig]

Odion Ighalo

[dynaboyj]

Gonna go with Djordjevic.

This looks really fun, by the way! I set about trying to create an international knockout tournament a few weeks ago and couldn't figure out how to, so I'll probably just eagerly follow this instead. I'm rooting for (Republic of the) Congo and Guatemala to meet in the final.

[SoSolidSnake]

He's the only one on the list that hasn't been voted for, so he's worth a punt: I'm going with Fodé Doré!

[Dave.]

WORLD KNOCKOUT CUP - Fifth Round

Shocks aplenty in the last 16! Iceland put out Spanish-conquering Norway in Oslo, while France's challenge was ended at home to Belgium, Turkey stuffed the Netherlands, and a Gareth Bale-inspired Wales managed to do what England never could - beat the Germans on penalties. England weren't to worry though, as along with Switzerland, Argentina and Nigeria, safely negotiated tricky ties to reach the quarter finals.

[Dave.]

Gonna go with Djordjevic.

This looks really fun, by the way! I set about trying to create an international knockout tournament a few weeks ago and couldn't figure out how to, so I'll probably just eagerly follow this instead. I'm rooting for (Republic of the) Congo and Guatemala to meet in the final.

Glad to hear it! Ahh, and a shame about not getting the tournament to work - I did have plenty of issues with this to start with! If you'd like, I can upload the database file for this game?

[Dave.]

WORLD KNOCKOUT CUP - Quarter Final

The contest between Iceland and Wales provided a chance for a minnow to reach the semi final, and it was Iceland who grabbed that chance. England and Belgium won handsomely, and so did Switzerland once they had been taken to extra time.

[Dave.]

WORLD KNOCKOUT CUP - Semi Final

No goals over 90 minutes in either game - both tense, tight encounters. Eventually, England managed to overcome a stern Iceland challenge, while Switzerland held their nerve to beat Belgium on penalties. England v Switzerland at Wembley is the final - did anyone predict that?

[Dave.]

WORLD KNOCKOUT CUP - Final

It was Switzerland who totally dominated the first half, and were very unfortunate to go into the break level. After that though, England found their rhythm, and went through the gears until Sterling found the winner to give England the title in the inaugural World Knockout Cup. Like 1966 all over again!

[Dave.]

WORLD KNOCKOUT CUP - Goalscorers

Despite a late charge from Haris Serafovic, it was Aguero who finished as top scorer, hitting the net 8 times in five games. Plenty of close challengers, but nobody quite close enough.

So that means Jakarooney wins the second challenge, and with that, gets the reward of picking a country to gain a wonderkid. You also get to choose the position of the player, and his first club. He'll have 150 CA and 200 PA.

[Jakarooney]

I'll also go Georgia. I'll go with a striker and his first club will be Dinamo Tbilisi (In Georgia).

[Dave.]

I'll also go Georgia. I'll go with a striker and his first club will be Dinamo Tbilisi (In Georgia).

Have to admit - I'm loving the collaboration here to make Georgia an international powerhouse. Anyway, meet 15-year-old striker Tsotne Kvarthskhava.

[breum]

Just found this thread, looks like fun. Now that the first tournament is over, whats up next?

[Jakarooney]

Have to admit - I'm loving the collaboration here to make Georgia an international powerhouse. Anyway, meet 15-year-old striker Tsotne Kvarthskhava.

Wow! He doesn't look half bad does he? Come on Georgia!

[sherwinriga]

Good start for all nations and even England! Sir, your experiment is good after all! Will you create a save for every season because I love that idea!

[Dave.]

Wow! He doesn't look half bad does he? Come on Georgia!

Not at all - hopefully they'll give him a chance fairly soon and we'll be able to see if he can do the business!

Good start for all nations and even England! Sir, your experiment is good after all! Will you create a save for every season because I love that idea!

Thanks very much! Do you mean have a save file stored at the end of each season? I probably won't go quite that regularly, but perhaps at the end of every five year or decade period, so that there's a little more variation if people ever wanted to play them.

Just found this thread, looks like fun. Now that the first tournament is over, whats up next?

We'll have a run through of continental tournaments in the summer of 2016, take a look at some of the year's best players, and gear up for the World Knockout Cup in 2017. The first tournament to be covered is the 2016 Ocenia Nations Cup in Papua New Guinea, and so for the third challenge (without using Google, in the spirit of things):

New Zealand hosted and won the first ever edition in 1973 - but who did they beat in the final?

[levigu]

I love the idea of this thread! Will be checking back regularly.

Now, there's one very obvious answer, so it's probably wrong. I'll go with Fiji.

[Dave.]

2016 OCEANIA NATIONS CUP

That's about as comprehensive as it comes for New Zealand, not looking close to losing a single game as they made up handsomely for their disappointing semi-final defeat to New Caledonia in 2012. The winners that time, Tahiti (the only time the tournament hadn't been won by New Zealand or Australia), failed to even make it out of the groups.

[Dave.]

I love the idea of this thread! Will be checking back regularly.

Now, there's one very obvious answer, so it's probably wrong. I'll go with Fiji.

Thank you, nice to know there are interested followers!

[Dave.]

2016 COPA AMERICA

In a special expanded edition of the South American tournament to celebrate the centenary of CONMEBOL, and the first held outside of the continent. The hosts, USA, were the only invited team to make it through a tough group stage, and that was as far as they made it. Chile brilliantly saw off perennial favourites Argentina and Brazil, but were taken apart in the final by a brilliant Jackson Martínez hattrick - the player of the tournament scored 8 goals in 6 games.

[Jakarooney]

I'll go with Papua New Guinea.

[SoSolidSnake]

Given that you just mentioned them as having won, and I know next to nothing about Oceanic football, I'm going to go with Tahiti.

[sherwinriga]

I'll go with the Solomon Islands.

[grianaig]

Australia is my obvious choice

[SuperDan!]

As someone who has an annual stab at getting Solomon Islands up the FIFA world rankings - I've played the Oceania Nations Cup a few times. Tahiti played NZ in the 1973 final.

Great thread by the way and great idea!

[swooperproop]

Darn, I'm too late, correct answer's been given already...

BTW, I just came across this and I like it a lot! But please don't abandon it like the Basque sign-up last year, Dave... (I'm not mad or anything, I understand everybody has a life and stuff)

[Dave.]

Given that you just mentioned them as having won, and I know next to nothing about Oceanic football, I'm going to go with Tahiti.

Some solid educated guesswork there, you're spot on. You may pick any two nations - one to remove 500 reputation points from, and another to give those points to. It may be interesting to see which of the two countries this will affect more!