Although the National Men’s Football Team of Costa Rica (“La Sele”) is a favorite to win the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the latest FIFA rankings tell a different story. After La Sele’s amazing Cinderella run at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Costa Rica held very high FIFA rankings, staying in the top 15 for several months. Alas, the international friendly matches played by La Sele under the guidance of coach Paulo Cesar Wanchope have some football fans worried about their team’s fate in the Gold Cup.

 

According to estimates calculated by sports daily Diez from Honduras, the new ranking formula being used by the scandal-plagued FIFA will cause Costa Rica to drop to the 41^st position worldwide, which means that it will now hold court below Mexico and the United States within CONCACAF. Current World Cup champion Germany will drop to second place and Argentina will climb to the top position, a ranking that will probably fail to comfort star striker Lionel Messi and die-hard Argentine football fans, who were dismayed at not being able to win the Copa America in a tight final match against the host national team of Chile.

 

By virtue of co-hosting the Gold Cup with the United States, Canada is getting a huge boost in the FIFA rankings. If the Canadian players make it out of Group B, which is also populated by Costa Rica, El Salvador and Jamaica, the National Football Team of Canada will likely skyrocket up the FIFA ranks as well.

 

Still, anything can happen in the Gold Cup. As MLSSoccer.com recently put it in Biblical allegory:

 

The “infallible” FIFA rankings would suggest the Canadians come in as the poor, bedraggled David while Costa Rica — fresh off an amazing run in last summer’s World Cup — play the imposing Philistine warrior (that’s Goliath, by the way).

 

But in CONCACAF, one well-placed rock (a metaphorical rock, as opposed to the actual rocks that sometimes get hurled onto the field) can knock off any supposed giant. While Costa Rica come in as clear favorites, no result in this group would go down as an absolute shocker.