CASE NO. 013

FIFA rankings

// verdict BUSTED
CASE NO. 013FIFA rankings

The world's #1 ranked team always escapes the group stage.

Germany entered the 2018 tournament ranked #1 in the FIFA Men's Ranking and as defending champions. They lost to Mexico, beat Sweden, and lost 0–2 to South Korea — finishing bottom of Group F and eliminated in the group stage for the first time in 80 years. The FIFA ranking has predictive value; it is not destiny.

// sources12018 World Cup Group F
Busted

«Busted.»

// verdictBUSTED

Football lives in stories.
Some of them survive the data.

Most don't. We're building the longest fan-maintained record of folklore-versus-fact in the sport. New cases drop when the record changes. Old cases reopen when the data does.

← Myths
The world's #1 ranked team always escapes the group stage. — soccermyths