Following the conclusion of the final FIFA window of 2025, both Lionel Messi‘s Argentina and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal have been confirmed as top seeds for their respective groups in the 2026 World Cup, thanks to the newly updated FIFA World Ranking.
Portugal could have secured their World Cup qualification during the October window, but a last-minute goal from Dominik Szoboszlai derailed their celebration, forcing Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates to pursue classification in the last two games of the UEFA Qualifiers.
When qualification seemed simple, Portugal surprisingly fell 2-0 to Ireland on the road—a match where Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off for elbowing an opponent off the ball. However, they crushed Armenia 9-1 in the final matchday to definitively seal their qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
Despite achieving the objective of qualifying, the draw against Hungary and the surprise loss to Ireland caused Portugal to fall to the No. 6 spot in the FIFA World Ranking with 1760.38 points, being marginally surpassed by Brazil (1760.46 points).
Cristiano Ronaldo reacts after being shown a red card. (Getty Images)
For Argentina, Messi and his teammates secured classification on March 25th and have since been contesting friendly matches during the recent FIFA dates. In their latest friendlies, they registered one defeat against Ecuador and three victories, allowing them to maintain their No. 2 position in the FIFA World Ranking with 1873.33 points, still trailing Spain, who lead the standings with 1877.18.
It is worth noting that during the March 2026 FIFA window, with the World Cup groups already confirmed, Argentina will have a chance to reclaim the No. 1 spot. To do so, they must win both of their matches and rely on other results. They could also face Spain in the Finalissima, a transcendental match for the ranking.
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Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi to share historic record as Portugal join Argentina at 2026 World Cup
How the 2026 World Cup pots were determined
Following the update to the FIFA World Ranking, the pots for the 2026 World Cup draw have been finalized. Crucially, Argentina and Portugal are in the same pot and therefore cannot be drawn into the same group, meaning Messi and Ronaldo could only face each other in the knockout stages of the competition.
Pot 1 (top seeds)
- United States, Mexico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Spain.
Pot 2
- Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Senegal, Switzerland, Japan, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia.
Pot 3
- Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa.
Pot 4
- Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curacao, Haiti, New Zealand, European Playoff Teams (4), Intercontinental Playoff Teams (2).
The draw will determine the four teams for each of the 12 groups that will compete in the 2026 World Cup. Teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn into the same group. The only exception to this rule is Europe, as four groups will feature two European teams due to the high number of qualified participants from that continent.
