England dropped seven places in the
rankings over the year, but did not fare as badly as they might have. FIFA places a higher value on competitive matches than on friendly
games. England did not play a single competitive match in 1994 because
they failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup final tournament and qualified
automatically for the 1996 European Championship final tournament as host
nation. And they played only six friendly matches during 1994 under
new manager Terry Venables. But they limited their slide in the
rankings by remaining unbeaten through the year, playing all six matches at
Wembley, winning four and drawing two.