With the international break now over, FIFA has been busy recalculating its famous World Rankings, putting every recognized national team on the planet against each other in a pyramid that stretches from number one all the way down to 211.
Tuesday’s final round of friendlies and World Cup qualifiers brought an end to the penultimate chance for teams across the globe to boost their rankings, with only the one-week window in early June left before this summer’s World Cup.
There is a new leader at the top of the standings, as well as a handful of big changes that impact this summer’s host nations.
FIFA World Rankings: Top 30 Teams
Climbing to the top of the leaderboard is France. The 2018 World Cup champions have been here before on just two occasions, dominating from May 2001 to May 2002 and also spending a short spell at the top in late 2018 after their global triumph.
France takes the place of Spain, who had been top since September 2025, after Les Bleus earned big points with wins over high-ranking teams Brazil and Colombia during the international break. Spain, meanwhile, beat Serbia before drawing with Egypt.
Spain were supposed to face Argentina in La Finalissima during this window, but after that fixture was canceled, both teams had to throw together friendlies at the last minute. Argentina’s games against minnows Mauritania and Zambia did little to boost its international reputation.
England remains in fourth, with Portugal now climbing up into fifth ahead of Brazil to complete the changes inside the top 10. The Netherlands, Morocco, Belgium and Germany all retain their spots, as does Croatia in 11th.
In 12th, we find the first team not going to the World Cup. Italy was rocked on penalties by Bosnia & Herzegovina in the playoffs and will now miss out on a third World Cup competition in a row, but the Azzurri still climb up one place in the rankings thanks to Senegal’s tumble following the reverse of the ruling of the Africa Cup of Nations final.
| Position | Team | Change From Last Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | France | Up 2 |
| 2. | Spain | Down 1 |
| 3. | Argentina | Down 1 |
| 4. | England | - |
| 5. | Portugal | Up 1 |
| 6. | Brazil | Down 1 |
| 7. | Netherlands | - |
| 8. | Morocco | - |
| 9. | Belgium | - |
| 10. | Germany | - |
| 11. | Croatia | - |
| 12. | Italy | Up 1 |
| 13. | Colombia | Up 1 |
| 14. | Senegal | Down 2 |
| 15. | Mexico | Up 1 |
| 16. | United States | Down 1 |
| 17. | Uruguay | - |
| 18. | Japan | Up 1 |
| 19. | Switzerland | Down 1 |
| 20. | Denmark | Up 1 |
| 21. | Iran | Down 1 |
| 22. | Türkiye | Up 3 |
| 23. | Ecuador | - |
| 24. | Austria | - |
| 25. | Korea Republic | Down 3 |
| 26. | Nigeria | - |
| 27. | Austria | - |
| 28. | Algeria | - |
| 29. | Egypt | Up 2 |
| 30. | Canada | Down 1 |
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as FIFA World Rankings: New Leaders Confirmed After Final World Cup Qualifiers.
