Argentina widen the gap while Guinea-Bissau and Aruba make headway

Following their 1-0 triumph over Ecuador and a 3-0 away success against Bolivia in their opening CONMEBOL Fifa World Cup 2026™ qualifiers, Argentina (1st) tighten their grip at the summit of the Fifa/Coca-Cola World Ranking. Second place France lose some ground on the Albiceleste after suffering a 2-1 friendly defeat at the hands of Germany.

Meanwhile, Brazil (3rd), England (4th) and Belgium (5th) retain their places in a top five that remains unchanged from the July 2023 edition of the global ranking. The leading pack are followed by Croatia (6th), the Netherlands (7th) and Portugal (8th), who are the only team among the top ten to climb a position. Italy (9th) slip down a spot after having been held to a 1-1 draw away to North Macedonia in the sides’ Uefa EURO 2024 qualifier. The top-ten line-up is completed by Spain.

There is no shortage of changes further down the standings. Indeed, of the sides ranked between tenth and 50th, no fewer than 17 have risen by a place or more. Austria (25th) and Hungary (32nd) both make waves by climbing four berths. Elsewhere, Mali (49th) and Ivory Coast (50th) move up two spots apiece to reclaim their positions among the top 50.

After succumbing to back-to-back away defeats – 4-2 to Slovenia and 1-0 against Kazakhstan – Northern Ireland (74th, down 10) are the biggest fallers in the latest instalment of the ranking. Belarus (105th) tumble seven places to drop out of the top 100, with Trinidad and Tobago (98th, up 4), Mauritania (99th, up 2) and Kazakhstan (100th, up 4) moving in the opposite direction to claim top-100 status.

Thanks largely to their 2-0 win over Poland, Albania (62nd, up 3) record the biggest move by points (up 20.08). As for progress in terms of places, the biggest climbers are Guinea Bissau (106th) and Aruba (193rd), both of whom jump up six places.