There was speculation from football journalists such as ESPN's Dale Johnson that this was because projections of the new rankings had seen relatively little change in positions, with Germany – who had been eliminated in the first round of the World Cup – remaining as the top ranked team.
Terdapat spekulasi dari jurnalis sepak bola seperti Dale Johnson dari ESPN bahwa hal ini terjadi karena proyeksi sistem peringkat baru telah mengalami perubahan posisi yang relatif sedikit, dengan Jerman – yang tereliminasi di babak pertama Piala Dunia – bertahan di peringkat puncak.