Argentina have become world champions, but Lionel Messi's boys have failed to top the FIFA rankings.
Even after defeating France to win the World Cup on 18 December, Argentina was unable to overtake the top spot in the most current FIFA World Rankings. Instead, South American rival Brazil, which has been in first place since February, has maintained its position despite not progressing beyond the quarter-finals.
World champion Argentina won the Copa America tournament in 2021 as well. Now, Albiceleste and France are now in second and third place respectively. People are wondering why Argentina didn't manage to claim the top spot. Why here
In the FIFA World Cup 2022, Argentina won four games, lost one to Saudi Arabia and won twice on penalties, including the final. Brazil played three matches at the World Cup and lost two others, including one to Cameroon in the group stage, before being eliminated by Croatia after a shock comeback.
Brazil regained its No. 1 spot when neither Argentina nor France won the championship within 120 minutes. A win in a penalty shootout equals fewer rating points than a win in regular time. A penalty shootout ensured that Brazil could not be surpassed regardless of which team had won, in which case that team would have moved up to No. 1.
After finishing fourth in the World Cup, the No. 11 spot is now held by Morocco, the highest ranking for an African side. After moving up three places to 13th place, the United States replaced Mexico as the top-ranked CONCACAF squad.
Portugal finished ninth and Italy, who did not make it to the World Cup this time around, dropped two places to eighth. Croatia has moved up from 12th to seventh place after a stellar World Cup performance. Spain dropped three places to complete the top 10.
England finished fifth. Quarter-finalists the Netherlands finished in sixth place, one place ahead of Belgium who dropped two places to fourth after failing to progress through the group round.
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