FIFA ranking, Italy loses ground

In the aftermath of the conclusion of the qualifying rounds of the UEFA and CONCACAF teams and on the eve of the draws that will determine the path to define the last six teams admitted to the 2026 World Cup, FIFA has updated the rankings based on the results of 149 matches played around the world, including 74 friendlies.

L’Italy, after losing to Norway, dropped three places, slipping from ninth to 12th. Spain continues to occupy the top spot ahead of Argentina, France and England, while Brazil climbs to fifth place, gaining two at the expense of Portugal, sixth, and the Netherlands, seventh.

Taking advantage of the Azzurri’s loss of positions was Croatia, back in the top 10, with Germany climbing to ninth place behind Belgium, which remained eighth. One’other team approaching the top of the rankings is one of the host nations of the next edition, the United States.

The U.S. has in fact leapfrogged Mexico into 14th place. The two North American teams are the top ranked teams in CONCACAF. In the other top 50 positions, Nigeria (38th,+3), Tunisia (40th, +3) and Uzbekistan (50th, +5) climbed the most places.