The victorious campaigns he recorded in 2021 gave Chelsea a jump in the Folha Ranking of world football. The team gained seven spots on the list, a historic survey published since 2002 and led handily by Real Madrid.
Champions League champion over Manchester City, the London team won 70 points. There were 10 more with the triumph in the European Supercup, against Villarreal. The victory over Palmeiras in the World Cup was worth another 80.
Chelsea thus reached what is currently the highest score in a season, 160. With a total of 410, it jumped from 28th to 21st place, leaving behind Benfica, Flamengo, Porto, Atlético de Madrid, Cruzeiro, Internacional and Al Ahly.
The English team was immediately behind precisely the one that was their victim in the final of the World Cup, in the United Arab Emirates. With 420 points, Palmeiras, runner-up in the world, is tied with Grêmio in 19th place.
“The whole world is jealous of us,” said German coach Thomas Tuchel, celebrating the victory in Abu Dhabi. “As a boy, you dream of a final like this. It’s very special, we wanted to play a decision with no regrets.”
It was not easy. Chelsea had difficulties with the barrier mounted by the coach of Palmeiras, Abel Ferreira. When he finally opened the scoring, with a header by Lukaku, he conceded a silly penalty in a handball by Thiago Silva and offered a tie to Raphael Veiga.
The equality was maintained until the 12 minutes of the second half of the extra time. There, the German Kai Havertz took a penalty committed in another hand touch, this one from Luan, and gave the London team their first world title.
In the previous attempt, against another Brazilian, the blue formation had failed. In the 2012 decision, played in Yokohama, Japan, Corinthians prevailed and won 1-0, a goal by Peruvian Paolo Guerrero.
Despite not having achieved the big dream in 2021, Palmeiras also gained positions in the ranking. He got 70 points for winning the Copa Libertadores, took 50 for the world runner-up and climbed five places.
The association alviverde has already secured another 10 points in the 2022 edition of the ranking, with the title of the Recopa Sudamericana in a duel with Athletico Paranaense. Thus, it will be ahead of Grêmio, which, in the second national division, will not play international tournaments this year.
The Folha Ranking of world football considers only international competitions. Champion and runner-up teams add points. To be counted in the survey, a tournament must have representation, official character and sequence.
Questions and answers about Ranking Folha
Since when is the Folha de Futebol Ranking created?
The first edition of the national ranking dates from 1996. Since then, the list has undergone modifications, corrections and revisions. The last major revision took place in 2010. The world ranking began to be published in 2002 and follows the same guidelines as the national list.
Who enters the Folha Ranking?
In the national ranking, only teams that scored points (were champions or runners-up) in national or international competitions appear. In the world ranking, only those who scored in international tournaments.
Which tournaments are considered?
To enter the ranking, a tournament needs to have great representation, official character and sequence. Thus, championships played only once and with no prospect of new editions, such as the super championships held in some states in 2002, are disregarded. Tournaments such as Copa Rio, Copa Suruga, Supercopa do Brasil and Copa Florida, among others, also do not earn ranking points.
Why do tournaments played by only two clubs, such as the Recopa Sudamericana, not give points to the runner-up?
Every team that participates in a tournament like this has already been rewarded, as it gathers winners from previous competitions. It wouldn’t be logical to have a team scoring where it just failed.
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