FIFA World Rankings: Latest rankings ahead of World Cup 2026

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Which team tops the FIFA World Rankings as Argentina look to defend their crown at World Cup 2026?

FIFA World Rankings: Lionel Messi of Argentina celebrates with the FIFA World Cup trophy
Where does Messi's Argentina come among the greatest in the world right now? (Image credit: Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images)

Even as World Cup 2026 draws near, predicting the outcome doesn't get any easier.

The FIFA World Rankings are an imperfect but useful way to track the progress of every men's international football team in the world. The 211-team ranking isn't a reliable predictor of future results but it serves up the broad strokes of how the contenders have been getting on.

FIFA World Rankings: the latest points of each international men's team, with World Cup 2026 on the horizon

Since 2018, the FIFA World Rankings have been calculated by adding or subtracting points from each team's existing total depending on results in the rankings window, in this case the April update covering fixtures in the second half of March 2026.

The weight of additions and deductions is determined in part by the importance of the matches in question and the relative standard of the opposition, as well as factors like extra time and penalty shoot-outs being required.

Who are the top-ranked international teams in the world?

Nike France World Cup 2026 kit

France now top the FIFA World Rankings (Image credit: Nike / France)

It's all change at the top of April's FIFA World Rankings, with World Cup 2022 runners-up France jumping two places into first.

European champions Spain drop to second and world champions Argentina to third. Argentina won both of their March matches but played Mauritania and Zambia while Les Blues beat Brazil and Colombia.

England remain in fourth place despite losing to Japan at Wembley in their most recent outing, while Portugal now occupy fifth place ahead of sixth-placed Brazil.

Netherlands, Morocco, Belgium and Germany complete the top 10.

Who are the top-ranked international teams missing World Cup 2026?

The top 10 have all qualified for World Cup 2026 but it doesn't take much digging to find the highest-ranked team to have failed to secure a spot.

After Croatia in 11th place you'll find Italy in 12th. The Azzurri are the ninth-highest team in the UEFA confederation but missed out on the World Cup for the third consecutive tournament after losing to Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties in the play-offs.

Italy haven't played a knock-out game at the World Cup since they lifted the trophy in 2006 but their FIFA World Rankings could yet serve them well if Iran have to withdraw from the finals.

Who are the lowest-ranked international teams at World Cup 2026?

Cape Verde's forward #20 Ryan Mendes

Ryan Mendes of Cape Verde (Image credit: FRANCK FIFE / AFP) (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)

The expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams has brought some first-time qualifiers to the party. While the qualifying matches of lower-ranked teams improve their points totals by definition, there are some qualifiers who are ranked a long way below France.

San Marino are the lowest-ranked team in the world in 211st. New Caledonia in 151st were agonisingly close to making the grade as the lowest-ranked World Cup team. Suriname had a decent crack at qualifying too but there will be no teams outside the top 100.

The lowest-ranked teams participating at the World Cup will be New Zealand (85th in the world), Haiti (83rd) Curacao (82nd), Ghana (74th), Cape Verde (69th) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (65th).

How often has the top-ranked team in the FIFA World Rankings won the World Cup?

The FIFA World Rankings began in 1992. Since then, there have been eight completed World Cup finals tournaments.

Of those eight, none has been won by the team at the top of the FIFA World Rankings.

Brazil, Italy, Spain, Germany, France and Argentina all became world number one on the back of World Cup glory.

Who would play at the World Cup if the bottom 48 teams were selected?

Turn that table upside down and there's arguably an even more fascinating tournament to be enjoyed. If the bottom 48 teams were assigned to this expanded monolith of a World Cup finals, these are the nations who would be taking part.

  1. Cuba
  2. Eswatini
  3. Bermuda
  4. St Lucia
  5. Papua New Guinea
  6. Afghanistan
  7. South Sudan
  8. St Vincent and the Grenadines
  9. Maldives
  10. Andorra
  11. Chinese Taipei
  12. Montserrat
  13. Nepal
  14. Cambodia
  15. Mauritius
  16. Barbados
  17. Belize
  18. Bangladesh
  19. Dominica
  20. Chad
  21. Eritrea
  22. Laos
  23. Bhutan
  24. Mongolia
  25. Cook Islands
  26. Aruba
  27. Samoa
  28. Sri Lanka
  29. American Samoa
  30. Brunei Darussalam
  31. Macau
  32. Cayman Islands
  33. São Tomé and Príncipe
  34. Djibouti
  35. Somalia
  36. Tonga
  37. Timor-Leste
  38. Guam
  39. Pakistan
  40. Gibraltar
  41. Seychelles
  42. Turks and Caicos Islands
  43. Liechtenstein
  44. Bahamas
  45. British Virgin Islands
  46. US Virgin Islands
  47. Anguilla
  48. San Marino
Chris Nee
Chris Nee

Chris is a Warwickshire-based freelance football writer specialising in West Midlands football, the Premier League, the EFL and the J.League. He is the author of the High Protein Beef Paste football newsletter and owner of Aston Villa Review. He supports Coventry Sphinx.

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