Friday April 11, 2025

Argentina leads FIFA men's world rankings, Spain rises to 2nd

Published : 04 Apr 2025, 10:22

DF News Desk

Julian Alvarez (L) of Argentina celebrates a goal with teammates during the 2026 FIFA World Cup South American qualifiers football match with Brazil in Buenos Aires on March 25, 2025. File Photo: Xinhua.

World football governing body FIFA released its latest men's world rankings on Thursday, with Argentina remaining on top of the standings, while Spain jumped over France into second place, reported Xinhua.

Argentina maintained its top position with a 1-0 win away to Uruguay and a 4-1 home victory over Brazil in the World Cup qualifiers. Spain climbed to second with a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands in the quarterfinal of the UEFA Nations League, before triumphing 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out over the Dutch in the return leg.

France also advanced from the Nations League quarterfinals with a 5-4 penalty shoot-out win over Croatia, while losing 2-0 in the first leg.

England and Brazil kept their fourth and fifth positions respectively, while the Netherlands climbed one spot up to sixth place. Portugal dropped to seventh, followed by Belgium, Italy and Germany in the world's top 10.

A total of 245 international matches have been played since the December 2024 edition of the rankings.