A quick thought about Euro 2004, is it the World's top soccer championship?

Yes, I know it hasn't got the mighty Brazil or Argentina, but other than that there are no teams of note missing from the championship. This is rather different to the World Cup finals where there are perennial no-hopers like Saudi Arabia.

The top of the FIFA World Rankings suggest that Mexico, Turkey (knocked out by England and Latvia in qualifying), USA, Cameroon, Republic of Ireland (knocked out in qualifying), and Iran(!), are significant omissions. But to be honest this only highlights how seriously flawed the FIFA rankings really are.

Take Mexico's record for instance - they're fouth in the rankings somehow - and apart from a 1-0 win over Brazil 12 months ago they have only played friendlies, one of which was a 0-0 draw against 65th ranked Iceland. Or the USA's record - ranked 9th - where they have no wins over any significant opposition since beating a mediocre Portugal 2 years ago at the World Cup.

Euro 2004 vs World Cup 2002? My money says Euro 2004 is the better tougher tournament.