The Fifa secretary general, Jerome Valcke, has defended the organisation's rankings that have placed England fourth in the world and Brazil 11th, reports The Guardian. The rankings determine whether teams will be seeded in the draw for the next World Cup. "I know that these rankings are sometimes quite difficult to understand due to the level and numbers of criteria that are taken into account," Valcke told Press Association Sport.
"There are teams who are playing more friendly games than other teams and you can see a difference which is not very logical, but the ranking I would say is clearly still a good picture of the level of international football.
"Brazil are not playing official games, just friendly games as they are already qualified. There have been internal meetings and also with the football committee to discuss the ranking of the different nations. We want to be able to explain in an easier way how this ranking is based."
The Fifa rankings are based on an international side's results over the previous four years, with more points awarded from competitive matches than qualifiers, and weighted even more strongly towards matches in the final tournaments of World Cups and continental tournaments such as European Championship.
