All Whites reach highest FIFA world ranking in almost 12 years

New Zealand’s All Whites have achieved their highest rating in the FIFA men’s world rankings in almost 12 years.

They are ranked #86 after 245 international fixtures were taking into account since the last rankings in December 2024.

The #86 rating is the highest level the team have reached since they were #79 in October 2013. The movement follows wins against Fiji and New Caledonia in the FIFA Men’s World Cup Oceania qualifier series.

The revision continues the upward trend for New Zealand that started with the appointment of Danny Hay as national coach in late 2019, and has continued with his successor, Darren Bazeley.

Bazeley became the interim head coach in February 2023, and was appointed in the role in July 2023.

The highest position ever achieved by New Zealand has been 47th (in August 2002); the lowest has been 161st (April-May 2016). The team leapt to 88th in late 2016 but declined to 122nd by late 2019.

Argentina (1st) held their position at the top of the men’s rankings. Spain (2nd) and France (3rd) continue to be their nearest challengers.

The next revision of the men’s rankings will be released in July 2025.

The All Whites will get more opportunities to improve their ranking with international fixtures already locked in during 2025.

They face Côte d’Ivoire (#41, up 5 places), Ukraine (#25) and Norway (#38, up 5 places).

The last five years

How the rankings are calculated

Points are allocated to teams from their most recent games and are weighted using the following criteria:

Result of the match.
Home v away, or neutral ground.
Importance of the match.
Difference in ranking between the teams.

Beating a highly-rated team, away, and in a tournament, rather than a friendly, can boost a team’s momentum up the rankings.

A win over a lowly-rated team can have little impact.

Winning or losing, of course, is the most important criterion, but goal difference and goals scored are also taken into account, as is shown in the following table.

READ MORE: The methodology used to rank teams >>>>>

This story was first published on April 5, 2025
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