The latest FIFA rankings have been released following the 2022 World Cup, and there are some significant changes as teams move up and down the list.
World Cup winners Argentina has risen to second in the FIFA rankings, with only South American rivals Brazil ahead of them as they cling to first place despite a disappointing World Cup.
People all over the world will be perplexed that the World Cup-winning team is not ranked as the world's best in the latest FIFA rankings.
That's understandable.
Why isn't Argentina at the top?
Lionel Messi and Argentina were given points based on the strength of their recent opponents, according to the way FIFA calculates its rankings.
Brazil has 1840.77 points to Argentina's 1838.38. Argentina will overtake Brazil after their next game if they win and Brazil loses.FIFA changed its method for calculating these rankings in 2018, and here's how it's done now. In general, you earn more points when you face stronger opponents. And these rankings no longer have a time frame attached to them. You fall faster if you're bad, and you rise faster if you're good.
Who are the famous mountaineers?
Morocco's Atlas Lions jumped 11 spots to 11th in the world. Walid Regragui's performance was outstanding, and they were the darlings of the 2022 World Cup.
Japan advanced four places to 20th, while the United States and Switzerland advanced three places each, with the Americans now ranked 13th and Switzerland in 14th place.Australia climbed 11 places to 27th after the Socceroos shocked everyone by reaching the World Cup's last 16 and giving eventual champions Argentina a tough game. Cameroon climbed ten places to 33rd, owing largely to their famous group-stage victory over Brazil.
Who slipped down the rankings?
Belgium dropped from second to fourth place, and they are likely to fall further after their shocking World Cup group stage exit. The Golden Generation is no longer with us.Spain, Germany, Mexico, and Uruguay all dropped, while reigning European champions Italy (remember them?!) dropped two spots, which was unavoidable after Roberto Mancini's side failed to qualify for the World Cup.
Denmark dropped eight spots to 18th, reflecting their disastrous World Cup, while Iran dropped four spots, Wales dropped nine spots, Serbia dropped eight spots to 30th, Canada dropped 12 spots to 53rd, and Qatar dropped ten spots to 60th. Canada under John Herdman suffered the greatest collapse of any World Cup team.What are we to make of the United States' ranking?
The USMNT's ranking of 13th is their second-highest since Gregg Berhalter took over, as they were ranked 10th in 2021. The USMNT has dropped as low as 36th in these rankings, but they have spent the majority of the last year ranked within the top 20.
With a Gold Cup in 2023 and the possibility of playing in the Copa America in 2024 (according to reports), the United States could move into the top ten as they have two major international tournaments to compete in, and wins in major tournaments earn more points than wins in friendly games.The FIFA rankings for the top 20 are shown below, along with a graph that shows where each team finished in the 2022 World Cup.
FIFA rankings, top 20 as of December 22, 2022
1. Brazil - Even. 2. Argentina - Up 1. 3. France - Up 1. 4. Belgium - Down 2. 5. England - Even. 6. Netherlands - Up 2 7. Croatia - Up 1 8. Italy - Down 2 9. Portugal - Even 10. Spain - Down 3 11. Morocco - Up 11. 12. Switzerland - Up 3. 13. USA - Up 3 14. Germany - Down 3 15. Mexico - Down 2 16. Uruguay - Down 2 17. Colombia - Even. 18. Denmark is down 8 points, Senegal is down one point, and Japan is up four points.
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