A must-win match awaits for Turkiye and Paraguay at the 2026 World Cup. Both teams need to bounce back after losing their tournament debuts. Those defeats also affected them in the FIFA rankings.
Turkiye got upset by Australia despite their incessant amount of efforts. Between the towering Australian defense and an incredible goalkeeper performance from Patrick Beach, Turkiye were just not able to score.
As for Paraguay, they actually just got beat to the punch as USA were too much to handle for them. Now, they need to go back to being the best defense in CONMEBOL to earn three points against Turkiye.
Turkiye’s updated FIFA rankings
Turkiye started the 2026 World Cup at the 22nd slot, but after the loss to Australia, FIFA punished them and lower them four spots. Hence, Turkey come as the 26th ranked team by FIFA. The defeat against Australia cost Turkiye to lose 26.26 points according to FIFA.
Arda Guler and Hakan Calhanoglu of Turkiye.
Paraguay’s updated FIFA rankings
Paraguay’s loss made them fall one spot, so now Paraguay are ranked 42 in the world according to FIFA. The defeat caused Paraguay to lose 17.30 points.
How do the FIFA rankings work?
The FIFA Ranking uses the Elo rating system, meaning points are added or subtracted after every single match based on team strength, match importance, the actual result, and the expected result. It is a zero-sum system, meaning points won by one team are lost by the opponent.
Hence, that explains why Turkiye lost more points than Paraguay despite the South Americans having a heavier defeat in terms of goals. It’s not a formula set in stone, it rather uses many factors.
