POLITICO Ranks 48 World Cup Teams by 6 Metrics, With 10 EU Countries in Field

Q: Beyond athletic skill, which nation will win POLITICO's alternative ranking, and what does this reveal about them?

Sweden appears to be the winner of POLITICO’s alternative World Cup ranking. That ranking goes beyond football results and compares the 48 qualified nations across broader measures, starting with FIFA standings and adding non-sport indicators such as GDP per person, happiness, wealth and political stability. In the material provided, Sweden is identified as the country that comes out on top overall. What that reveals is not that Sweden is the best football team, but that it performs exceptionally well on quality-of-life and governance measures that POLITICO chose to spotlight. In practical terms, it suggests a country with high living standards, strong economic fundamentals, social well-being and stable institutions. The broader point of POLITICO’s exercise is to show that World Cup nations can also be compared as societies, not just as teams. Sweden’s apparent lead in this alternative table reflects its reputation as a prosperous, well-governed and broadly content country, even if that does not guarantee success on the pitch.

1 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jun 13

48 World Cup participants were re-ranked by POLITICO using six measures, pairing FIFA standings with five alternative categories including 2024 GDP per person.
April FIFA rankings set the baseline: France sat No. 1, Spain No. 2 and Argentina No. 3, while New Zealand entered as the tournament’s lowest-ranked team at No. 85.
Sweden, France, Qatar, Uruguay, Norway, New Zealand and Switzerland emerged as top performers in different categories rather than through match results.
10 EU countries are in this year’s 48-team tournament, and POLITICO said more data visualizations will follow today and tomorrow.