Argentina surpasses France before the start of the World Cup… and a new Moroccan achievement

The Argentine national team regained the top spot in the world rankings issued by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), in the final edition of the men’s classification before the start of the 2026 World Cup, after advancing two places to remove France from the top.

The progress of the Argentine national team, the World Cup holder, came thanks to its victory in its two friendly matches against Iceland and Honduras, returning to first place for the first time since July 2025, while the French national team fell to third place after its loss to Côte d’Ivoire and its victory over Northern Ireland, while the Spanish national team maintained second place after its draw with Iraq and victory over Peru.

The classification published by the International Federation website witnessed the Moroccan team achieving a historic achievement by advancing to seventh place, which is its best ranking since the launch of the world rankings in 1993, surpassing the Dutch team, which fell to eighth place.

The teams of Mexico, Uruguay and Iran also recorded progress in the rankings, as Mexico rose to fourteenth place, and Uruguay to sixteenth, while Iran entered the top twenty list by occupying twentieth place, while the teams of Senegal and the United States fell one place each.

Regarding the top 100 teams, Hungary, Chile and China were the most prominent teams that advanced by three places each, while Serbia recorded the largest decline among these teams by losing four places, in addition to a decline in Mali and Benin. As for the general classification level, the largest decline was for Lebanon, which fell by seven places, and Bhutan, which lost six places.

FIFA explained that the June 2026 classification will constitute one of the tie-breaking criteria in the 2026 World Cup competitions, whether to arrange the teams with equal points within the group or to determine the eight best teams in third place who qualify for the round of 32 in the event that the tie continues after applying the basic criteria.

FIFA is scheduled to release the next version of the world rankings for national teams on July 20, 2026, after the end of the World Cup.

Washington, June 11 (dpa) – The Argentine national team has regained the top spot in the world team rankings issued by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), in the final edition of the men’s classification before the start of the 2026 World Cup, after advancing two places to remove France from the top.

The progress of the Argentine national team, the World Cup holder, came thanks to its victory in its two friendly matches against Iceland and Honduras, returning to first place for the first time since July 2025, while the French national team fell to third place after its loss to Côte d’Ivoire and its victory over Northern Ireland, while the Spanish national team maintained second place after its draw with Iraq and victory over Peru.

The classification published by the International Federation website witnessed the Moroccan team achieving a historic achievement by advancing to seventh place, which is its best ranking since the launch of the world rankings in 1993, surpassing the Dutch team, which fell to eighth place.

The teams of Mexico, Uruguay and Iran also recorded progress in the rankings, as Mexico rose to fourteenth place, and Uruguay to sixteenth, while Iran entered the top twenty list by occupying twentieth place, while the teams of Senegal and the United States fell one place each.

Regarding the top 100 teams, Hungary, Chile and China were the most prominent teams that advanced by three places each, while Serbia recorded the largest decline among these teams by losing four places, in addition to a decline in Mali and Benin. As for the general classification level, the largest decline was for Lebanon, which fell by seven places, and Bhutan, which lost six places.

FIFA explained that the June 2026 classification will constitute one of the tie-breaking criteria in the 2026 World Cup competitions, whether to arrange the teams with equal points within the group or to determine the eight best teams in third place who qualify for the round of 32 in the event that the tie continues after applying the basic criteria.

FIFA is scheduled to release the next version of the world rankings for national teams on July 20, 2026, after the end of the World Cup.