Overview:

The first period in which the FIFA men’s world ranking has been updated in real time during national team matches has brought a raft of changes to the standings.

France, the 2018 world champions, is considered a viable contender for this year’s title (Photo courtesy of FIFA)

The first period in which the FIFA men’s world ranking has been updated in real time during national team matches has brought a raft of changes to the standings.

A total of 166 men’s internationals have been played since the last update, capped by battles in the race for the final spots at the World Cup.

France (1st, up 2) now lead the way. Two wins in their most recent friendlies have seen Les Bleus surge back to the summit for the first time since September 2018. They have leapfrogged Spain (2nd, down 1) and world champions Argentina (3rd, down 1) in the process, with virtually nothing to choose between the three. The reigning European champions’ push to preserve the pole position they had occupied since September 2025 was hampered by a stalemate with Egypt (29th, up 2) on Tuesday, March 31.

Other notable movers include Portugal (5th, up 1), who have swapped places with Brazil (6th, down 1) after taking a win and a draw from their recent friendlies and capitalizing on a slip-up from the Seleção against France. The remainder of the top 10 was unchanged.

The two teams that defeated the U.S. men’s national team in friendlies remained in the top 10. Portugal was fifth, and Belgium was ninth.

The USA was 16th.

Elsewhere, Türkiye (22nd, up 3), Côte d’Ivoire (34th, up 3), Sweden (38th, up 4) and Tunisia (44th, up 3) are the biggest climbers in the top 50. Bosnia and Herzegovina (65th, up 6) have double cause for celebration, having shot up the standings after joining fellow European play-off winners Sweden, Türkiye and Czechia (41st, up 2) in booking their ticket for the World Cup.

Vietnam (99th, up 9), Nepal (176th, up 6)and Bhutan (186th, up 6), join the Dragons in climbing more than five places, although all four remain far outside the top 50. Eritrea (184th) provide another standout story, returning to the ranking for the first time in almost three years.

Only three of the top 30-ranked teams will be sitting out the World Cup: Italy (12th, up 1), Denmark (20th, up 1) and Nigeria (26th, unchanged). No fewer than 37 of the 48 teams set to strut their stuff at the showpiece feature among the top 50.

For their part, Kosovo (78th, up 1), who missed out on World Cup qualification at the hands of Türkiye in one of the European play-off finals, have reached their highest-ever position in the men’s pecking order.

The full ranking can be found on  Inside FIFA . 

The next edition of the rankings will be published on June 10.