My friend and I launched a World Cup rankings game called WC'14 last week.

The game format requires no ongoing management, like Fantasy Football, but is more of a challenge than a straight out tipping competition or sweepstakes.

Our goal was to create a game that made every World Cup game interesting (because you want your higher ranked teams to win, and your lower ranked teams to lose)

We've added some cool features like the ability to create your own groups (play against your friends, co-workers or perhaps start a 4-4-2 group) and "what-if" scenarios to experiment with your rankings.

The person who ends the world cup with the most points will win $100 cash

In addition to the cash, the winner of our ranking contest will win an Official Addidas Brazuca Match Ball valued at $180!



It's free to join and play.

If that sounds interesting to you, please check out http://wc14.com.au

You have up until the start of the Brazil v. Croatia game to get your rankings in.

Hope you can join us!

We've had over 80 users join the site so far! You might find it interesting to see what the trends we are seeing with the rankings.

Here I've averaged out the rankings that the 84 participants have entered. Most people aren't picking a super campaign for the Aussies, with their group heavyweights Spain, Netherlands expected to do well.

If you think otherwise, and you are right, you might be able to win the $100 and the Adidas Brazuca Official match ball. You can even create your own groups if you want to have a friendly wager with your mates.

Current Average Rankings for WC'14

Germany: 2.5
Brazil: 3.2
Argentina: 3.6
Spain: 3.7
Uruguay: 7.4
Portugal: 7.4
Colombia: 8.2
Italy: 8.6
France: 10.0
Belgium: 10.4
Netherlands: 11.0
England: 11.2
Switzerland: 14.5
Chile: 15.7
Russia: 17.0
Ivory Coast: 17.7
Mexico: 17.9
Croatia: 18.2
USA: 18.5
Greece: 19.1
Ecuador: 19.8
Bosnia and Herzegovina: 20.3
Nigeria: 22.8
Ghana: 23.5
Japan: 24.3
Algeria: 24.7
South Korea: 26.0
Cameroon: 26.5
Honduras: 26.9
Australia: 27.4
Costa Rica: 28.0
Iran: 28.3

On Average, the WC'14 participants believe the first goal will be scored in the 18th Minute

On Average, the WC'14 participants belive there will be 123 goals scored in the tournament

We're now up to 150 players, and starting to see interest from work places who are startng up their office sweeps.

Here's an update on the average rankings so far:-

2.81 (A) Brazil
3.41 (G) Germany
3.81 (B) Spain
3.87 (F) Argentina

8.43 (G) Portugal
8.62 (D) Uruguay
8.73 (D) Italy
9.72 (H) Belgium
9.88 (E) France
9.92 (C) Colombia
10.16 (B) Netherlands
11.78 (D) England

15.33 (E) Switzerland
15.48 (B) Chile
16.40 (H) Russia
17.18 (C) Côte d'Ivoire
17.76 (A) Croatia
17.79 (A) Mexico
18.85 (C) Greece
19.58 (G) United States

19.93 (E) Ecuador
20.18 (F) Bosnia and Herzegovina
21.93 (G) Ghana
21.98 (F) Nigeria
23.00 (C) Japan
24.85 (H) Korea Republic
25.85 (H) Algeria
26.09 (A) Cameroon

26.92 (B) Australia
27.35 (H) Honduras
28.16 (D) Costa Rica
28.35 (F) Iran

Minute of the First Goal
WC'14 users believe (on average) the first goal will be scored at the 21 minute mark

Total Goals Scored
WC'14 users believe (on average) there will be 136 goals scored at the years World Cup.


If you like the concept, create a group and invite some of your friends, work colleagues or family to play too.

You can see a comparison of all the major ranking methodologies on http://wc14.com.au/ homepage as the tournament progresses.

Goldman Sachs Statistical Model
William Hill Starting Odds
FiveThirtyEight's World Cup Predictions (SPI)
World Football ELO Ratings
WC'14 Average Player Rankings
Countries ranked by population (thrown in there as a random benchmark)
FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking

For completeness, here are the final average rankings for my website (we had 473 people sign up in the end)

Rank   Team   WC'14 Average Rank
1   Brazil   2.29
2   Spain   3.39
3   Germany   3.66
4   Argentina   4.06
5   Portugal   7.64
6   Italy   9.07
7   Uruguay   9.37
8   France   10.00
9   England   10.60
10   Colombia   10.65
11   Belgium   10.75
12   Netherlands   11.26
13   Switzerland   14.30
14   Chile   14.99
15   Russia   16.66
16   Croatia   17.28
17   Mexico   17.43
18   Côte d'Ivoire   18.10
19   United States   19.17
20   Greece   19.21
21   Bosnia and Herzegovina   19.90
22   Ecuador   20.02
23   Japan   22.11
24   Nigeria    22.58
25   Ghana   23.26
26   Algeria   23.84
27   Korea Republic   24.79
28   Cameroon   25.52
29   Costa Rica   25.78
30   Australia   26.95
31   Honduras   27.07
32   Iran   28.13

On Average WC'14 Users think the first goal would be scored at the 28th Minute (It was actually the 11th minute)
On Average WC'14 Users think there will be 123 goals scored in the tournament.