World Cup Points: FIFA World Rankings Update
Argentina Ranked First in the World
Movement in Top-Five
At the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup, which Argentina won in penalty kicks over France, Brazil still led the FIFA World Rankings. They do have the most World Cup points and wins in history but only reached the quarterfinals in Qatar. As of the April 6th FIFA World Ranking, Argentina overtook Brazil to become number one in the world. The latest FIFA World Rankings were released on June 29th and we’ll take a look at the top teams and some of the biggest movers.
The Top 10
Argentina are on top of the FIFA World Cup Rankings as of the June 29th edition. The World Cup winners are narrowly ahead of both France and Brazil. Of course, Argentina played France in one of the best World Cup matches of all-time last December. At the final of Qatar 2022, Argentina and France drew 3-3 after 120 minutes. La Albiceleste won in a penalty shootout as Lionel Messi won the Golden Ball for the tournament’s best player.
France remain second in this edition of the rankings after winning all four of their Euro 2024 qualifiers this year. Kylian Mbappé was recently named captain of the side after Hugo Lloris retired. Les Bleus, as the favorites, show early +450 futures odds to be the next World Cup champions.
Brazil announced that Carlo Ancelotti will become their head coach starting next Summer as his Real Madrid contract winds down. The Selecao have lost two of their three friendlies this year, losing 5.94 World Cup points in the rankings since last edition.
England have moved up to fourth in the FIFA World Rankings after winning their June European qualifiers by a combined 11-0. Bukayo Saka scored a hat trick in England’s last match as they thumped North Macedonia 7-0.
Belgium moved down to fifth but are unbeaten in Domenico Tedesco’s short tenure as head coach. Sixth-placed Croatia got incredibly close to winning their first major trophy in June. However, they lost to Spain in a penalty shootout in the UEFA Nations League Final.
The Netherlands dropped from sixth to seventh and lost both of their matches as they hosted the Nations League finals. Italy, who beat the Netherlands 3-2 in the third-place game, are one spot behind, in eighth. Portugal and UEFA Nations League champions Spain round out the top ten. Spain gained the most World Cup points since the last ranking of any team in the top-50.
Other Notable Teams and Big Movers
The USA have moved up from 13th to 11th on the back of wins over Mexico and Canada in the CONCACAF Nations League. Morocco have been one of the biggest negative movers recently, following a draw to Cape Verde and loss to South Africa in Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers. The World Cup semifinalists lost 22.29 points since the latest ranking and moved down to 13th.
Germany’s World Cup scores were highly disappointing as they failed to make the knockout stage again. They’ve moved down to 15th in the rankings after friendly losses to Poland and Colombia.
Defending AFCON champions Senegal are ranked 18th and got a win over Brazil in a recent friendly. Sadio Mane’s Bayern Munich future is up in the air this Summer but he scored twice vs. Brazil.
Robert Lewandowski and Poland have moved down from 22nd to 26th in the FIFA World Rankings. That’s mostly due to an embarrassing 3-2 defeat vs. Moldova.
Scotland moved up six places from 36th to 30th as of the end of June. That’s the biggest jump of any FIFA team in the top-50. They’re still perfect in Euro qualifiers and have managed wins over Spain and Norway.
Wales, on the other hand, have moved down from 26th to 35th and have struggled with life post-Gareth Bale. They lost to both Armenia and Turkey in recent Euro 2024 qualifiers.
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