FIFA rankings: Spain dethrones Argentina, a bad omen for La Roja? | OneFootball

Spain on top of the world

Spain/@lopinion

Spain has just reclaimed the throne in the FIFA rankings, updated this Thursday, September 18, by football’s world governing body.

La Roja now leads ahead of Argentina, who drop to third place after their defeat to Ecuador. This might actually be better news for Argentina than for Spain, with just a year to go before the 2026 World Cup.

Argentina’s loss in Ecuador (1-0), during the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, proved costly for the Albiceleste. Although Lionel Messi and his teammates have already secured their ticket to the big party in America, they have lost a lot in the national team rankings, which they had led since April 2023.

The Spaniards now boast 1875.37 points, ahead of France (1870.92) and Argentina (1870.32). England (1820.44) and Portugal (1779.55) complete the world’s top five.

This number one spot has often been a curse at the World Cup, as no team ranked number one before the tournament has gone on to lift the trophy since 1993. That was the case for Spain in 2014, when they couldn’t live up to their top billing at the Brazil World Cup.