The Argentine National Team will arrive at the 2026 World Cup as the leader of the FIFA Ranking. The wins in friendly matches against Honduras 2-0 and Iceland 3-0, combined with the recent setbacks of Spain and France, allowed Lionel Scaloni's team to regain the top of the table just days before the World Cup begins.
The battle for the first place was decided on the last FIFA date prior to the tournament. The French, who started as leaders, lost 2-1 to Ivory Coast and relinquished a significant number of points. Meanwhile, the Spaniards, who had the chance to surpass them, also failed to take advantage of the opportunity after drawing 1-1 with Iraq.
Although both teams later recovered with victories against Northern Ireland and Peru, respectively, it wasn't enough to regain lost ground. Argentina, on the other hand, confirmed its position with two consecutive wins and finished the World Cup preparation at the top with 1877.27 points. Spain came in second with 1874.71 and France completed the podium with 1870.70 points.
On the other hand, the rest of the top 10 also saw another movement compared to the previous update. While England (4th), Portugal (5th), and Brazil (6th) maintained their positions, Morocco surpassed the Netherlands and took the seventh spot. Further down, Belgium and Germany remained ninth and tenth, respectively.
Thus, the national team will present itself in the United States, Mexico, and Canada as the highest-ranked team in the world, a status that brings prestige but also carries a curious statistic that has remained valid for over three decades.
Since the creation of the FIFA Ranking in December 1992, no team that reached a World Cup occupying the first position has managed to win the title. The "curse" began two years later: Germany led the ranking before the 1994 United States World Cup, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals. Four years later, Brazil arrived at France 1998 as the number one in the world, but lost in the final to the host team. In Korea-Japan 2002, the French defended their ranking leadership and the world title, but were eliminated in the group stage.
The trend continued in subsequent editions. Brazil arrived as leaders at Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals on both occasions. Spain was at the top before Brazil 2014 and also failed to advance past the first stage, while Germany met the same fate in Russia 2018 after arriving as the world champion and number one in the ranking. The last victim of this peculiar streak was again Brazil in Qatar 2022. The Verdeamarela started the tournament at the top of the ranking but was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Croatia.
Now, Scaloni's team will face a double challenge: defend the crown obtained in Qatar and become the first team to break a statistic that has haunted the FIFA ranking leader for over 30 years.
The Top 10 of the FIFA Ranking
1. Argentina | 1877.27 | +2
2. Spain | 1874.71 | =
3. France | 1870.70 | -2
4. England | 1827.05 | =
5. Portugal | 1766.18 | =
