Spain defeated Argentina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final to claim their second World Cup title. In addition to lifting the trophy once again, La Roja also climbed to the top of the FIFA World Ranking, cementing their status as the world’s No. 1 national team.
Argentina ultimately fell victim to one of the tournament’s most remarkable trends: no team that entered the World Cup as the No. 1 side in the FIFA World Ranking has ever gone on to lift the trophy. With Lionel Messi losing the final, La Albiceleste dropped to second place in the rankings.
France were another team that remained among the top nations in the standings throughout the tournament. However, after their defeat to England, Les Bleus finished the competition in third place.
FIFA Ranking Top 10 after the World Cup: Final standings
The 2026 World Cup has come to an end, and with it, the FIFA Ranking has been updated until official competition resumes. Spain sit at the top, Argentina remain in second place, Portugal drop two spots, and Mexico close out the Top 10 after climbing four positions.
Mikel Oyarzabal #21 of Spain.
| Position | National team | Points |
| 1 | Spain | 1995.88 |
| 2 | Argentina | 1970.37 |
| 3 | France | 1948.97 |
| 4 | England | 1922.83 |
| 5 | Brazil | 1804.92 |
| 6 | Morocco | 1803.99 |
| 7 | Portugal | 1787.85 |
| 8 | Belgium | 1778.36 |
| 9 | Netherlands | 1775.54 |
| 10 | Mexico | 1754.30 |
Despite being eliminated by Norway, Brazil‘s national team, led by Carlo Ancelotti, managed to climb one spot in the FIFA Ranking, the same situation as Morocco. Meanwhile, just like Argentina and Portugal, which dropped positions, the Netherlands also suffered a slight decline compared to where they stood at the start of the tournament.
Spain outclassed Argentina
Spain were better than Argentina, a fact even acknowledged by Lionel Scaloni himself. La Roja defeated their opponents 1-0 thanks to a dramatic extra-time goal from Ferran Torres, securing another major trophy and adding a new chapter to their history.
What comes next after the World Cup?
Following the conclusion of the World Cup, the official FIFA international calendar will resume in late 2026 with two distinct windows for national teams. The competitive action gets back underway with an extended September/October fixture block running from September 21 to October 6, 2026, giving teams an intensive two-week period to restart their official campaigns.
Shortly after, a second window scheduled from November 9 to November 17, 2026, will be dedicated to friendly matches as well as qualifying fixtures, offering managers a crucial opportunity to fine-tune squad dynamics and test new talent before the end of the year.
