Nashville SC Sits At No. 13 As Concacaf Releases New Club Ranking

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Photo: Courtesy of Nashville SC

Concacaf has launched a new club ranking system, which uses different metric systems to rank North American clubs. Currently, Nashville SC sits pretty at No. 13 overall.

The Concacaf Club Ranking is a ranking system that evaluates the strength of professional football clubs based on their performance in official domestic and international matches, and has ranked them based on their results since 2017. Its purpose is to accurately reflect their sporting strength at any given time.

To determine the ranking, matches are considered from the following competitions:

  • Concacaf Champions League (CCL)
  • Concacaf Regional Cups (Leagues Cup, Central American Cup and Caribbean Cup)
  • Domestic first-division professional leagues
  • Domestic Cups that qualify clubs for Concacaf Club competitions
  • FIFA Club World Cup

The Concacaf Club Ranking is based on the Elo system, which involves updating the scores of both teams after each match with a zero-sum approach.

The updated ranking is based on the difference between the match’s outcome and its expected outcome. The match’s outcome is determined by whether the home team wins, there’s a draw or the away team wins. This outcome is only known after the match. Before the match, the expected outcome is calculated using the Concacaf Club Ranking scores of both teams and the home team’s advantage.

One club may exceed expectations and increase their Concacaf Club Ranking score, while their opponent may underperform and decrease their Concacaf Club Ranking score by the same amount. The difference between actual and expected outcomes determines the number of points clubs earn or lose, with wins over stronger opponents resulting in greater increases. This self-correcting system ensures fairness.

Several factors influence the number of points awarded in a game, such as the competition weight factor determined by the competition. The home advantage factor is only applicable when the team plays in their home stadium, rather than in other stadiums within their country. In knockout stages, the round result determines 50 percent of the score, while each match accounts for 25 percent until extra time, but before penalties. Additionally, after an international match, first-division clubs receive a league bonus that adjusts their scores by 10 percent of the points earned or lost by their domestic teams.

Steven Boero
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