Spain climb to top of FIFA ranking after World Cup glory

The newly crowned world champions defeated Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the World Cup final, with Ferran Torres scoring the decisive goal eight minutes before the end of extra time to secure Spain's second world title.

Victory in the final earned Spain enough ranking points to overtake Argentina and move into first place. The result also saw Argentina slip to second after Spain gained a significant boost from winning the tournament.

France remain third in the rankings, while England stay fourth. Brazil hold on to fifth place, with Morocco climbing to sixth, the highest position the African nation has ever achieved in the FIFA rankings after another impressive international campaign.

Portugal dropped two places to seventh, while Belgium moved up one spot to eighth following their run to the World Cup quarter-finals. The Netherlands slipped to ninth, and Mexico climbed four places into tenth, returning to the world's top 10 for the first time since March 2022.

Norway enjoyed the biggest rise in the rankings, jumping 12 places to 19th after reaching the World Cup quarter-finals in their first appearance at the tournament since 1998. It is Norway's highest ranking since August 2011.

Germany slipped out of the top 10 after falling two places to 11th following their shock round of 32 defeat to Paraguay. Croatia also dropped two places to 12th after a disappointing tournament, while Switzerland climbed five spots to 13th after reaching the quarter-finals.

Italy remain the highest-ranked nation that failed to qualify for the World Cup, sitting 15th, one place above co-hosts the United States.

Egypt were another big success story, climbing five places to 24th after their best-ever World Cup campaign. Turkey endured a disappointing tournament and fell five places to 27th.

South Korea dropped seven places to 32nd after their group-stage exit, while Paraguay's impressive World Cup run lifted them seven places to 34th.

The biggest fall in the rankings belongs to Tunisia, who dropped 12 places to 57th.

Other notable changes saw DR Congo climb to 41st, South Africa rise six places to 54th and Ghana move up eight places to 65th. Panama, the Czech Republic, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Iraq and Haiti all slipped down the rankings following disappointing performances.

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