FIFA Ranking: Spain Take No.1 Spot as Norway Make Biggest Surge and Tunisia Suffer Dramatic Fall
Newly crowned world champions Spain have moved to the top of the latest FIFA World Ranking, while Norway recorded the biggest rise and Tunisia suffered the biggest fall in the rankings released on Monday.
Spain climbed to No.1 after defeating defending champions Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the World Cup final to win their second global title.
Ferran Torres scored the decisive goal eight minutes before the end of extra time, earning La Roja 30 ranking points and lifting them 25 points clear of Argentina.
Norway were the biggest climbers in the latest ranking, surging 12 places to 19th after reaching the World Cup quarter-finals in their first appearance at the tournament since 1998. The new position is also their highest ranking since August 2011.
Tunisia, however, suffered the biggest setback, plunging 12 places to 57th following a disappointing World Cup campaign.
France and England retained third and fourth positions respectively, while Brazil climbed to fifth and Morocco moved up to sixth—the highest ranking in the history of the Atlas Lions.
Portugal dropped two places to seventh, while Belgium climbed to eighth after reaching the quarter-finals. The Netherlands slipped to ninth, with Mexico returning to the top 10 for the first time since March 2022 after climbing four places.
Germany dropped out of the top 10, falling two places to 11th after their round-of-32 defeat to Paraguay.
The four-time world champions are expected to appoint former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp as their new national team coach, but their latest ranking represents another setback for a team that has spent only 10 months inside the FIFA top 10 since falling from first to 16th after the 2018 World Cup.
Croatia also dropped two places, while Switzerland climbed five places after reaching the quarter-finals.
Italy remain the highest-ranked nation that failed to qualify for the World Cup, occupying 15th place, one position ahead of the United States.
Egypt climbed five places to 24th after recording their best-ever World Cup campaign. Turkey dropped five places to 27th, while South Korea fell seven places to 32nd following their group-stage exit.
Paraguay climbed seven places to 34th after an impressive campaign that included their victory over Germany. The Democratic Republic of Congo rose five places to 41st, while South Africa climbed six places to 54th.
Panama dropped 10 places to 44th, the Czech Republic fell eight places to 48th, Uzbekistan dropped 10 places to 60th, Iraq fell six places to 63rd, Ghana climbed eight places to 65th, Jordan dropped 10 places to 73rd and Haiti fell five places to 88th.
