Argentina overtake France, climb back to second in FIFA rankings | OneFootball

The pair of victories in the last double friendly matches, 1-0 over Venezuela and 6-0 against Puerto Rico, allowed the Argentine National Team to regain ground in the FIFA ranking: they displaced France and climbed to second place after the update published this Friday.

The advance of the Albiceleste team (1872.43) was supported by Les Bleus' 2-2 draw (1862.71) against Iceland, a result that prevented them from maintaining their position in the UEFA Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. La Scaloneta, which had lost the leadership in September after 29 months at the top, moved closer to the summit again.

Meanwhile, Spain (1880.76) maintained the first place thanks to their victories over Georgia (2-0) and Bulgaria (4-0). These triumphs consolidated their dominance and extended the end of the Argentine hegemony cycle that began in April 2023.

In another area, Germany experienced a notable resurgence: they climbed two positions and returned to the top 10, pushing Croatia to the eleventh place. The Balkan team lost important points on their way to the next World Cup, which will be held in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

The top 10 also saw movements among the big teams. The Netherlands climbed to sixth place, relegating Brazil, who recently fell 3-2 unexpectedly to Japan in a friendly in Tokyo. Additionally, teams like Hungary, Scotland, Nigeria, and Romania managed to advance within the group of the top fifty.

Looking ahead to the 2026 World Cup, there will be 12 seeded teams, one per group: three will be reserved for the hosts (United States, Mexico, and Canada), and the other nine will emerge from the ranking published after the November window. In this scenario, Germany and Croatia would still not have secured their pre-seeded status, although the Germans could achieve it if Italy does not secure their spot.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.