First, let me note that soccer is not universally known as “football.” In Italian it is “il calcio.” An American student of Italian language made me aware of this thirty-plus years ago.
In news articles pertaining to the soccer World Cup, mention has been made of an Elo rating system pertaining to teams, rather than to individual players. Does anyone here know anything about this?
Here’s a link to what Wiki has to say about the Elo ratings in soccer.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Football_Elo_Ratings
Elo ratings are also used in Go.
There’s no reason the Elo methodology could not be applied to other competitive activities as well, as long as the concept of past results being reasonable predictors of future results is valid.
ELO ratings are also used in professional wrestling.