Argentina bump France from top spot in rankings ahead of World Cup title defence
Soccer Football – International Friendly – Argentina v Zambia – Estadio La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, Argentina – March 31, 2026 Argentina’s Nicolas Otamendi celebrates scoring their third goal with Lionel Messi REUTERS/Rodrigo Valle
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June 11 : Argentina returned to the top of the world rankings on Thursday right in time for their World Cup title defence as France dropped two spots to third.
Argentina, who kick off their World Cup campaign against Algeria on Tuesday in Kansas City, have not led the ranking since July 2025 but moved up two spots after victories in warm-up fixtures against Iceland and Honduras.
They are one place ahead of Spain, whose ranking remained unchanged. France were unseated as the top-ranked team after losing to Ivory Coast and beating Northern Ireland, dropping into third ahead of England and Portugal.
Brazil, Morocco, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany rounded out the top 10.
The rankings could impact this year’s expanded 48-team World Cup as they will serve as the final tiebreaker should two or more teams be equal on points after the group stage.
Source: Reuters
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