After the matches in March 2026, the French team holds the number one position in the FIFA rankings (after the Spanish team drew with the Egyptian team) and has the opportunity to maintain this position before the 2026 World Cup kicks off.
However, the results of friendly matches have changed the situation on the FIFA rankings. Spain, France and Argentina all have the opportunity to win the No. 1 position on the FIFA rankings. However, that honor ultimately belongs to the Argentine team. They have 2 victories against Honduras and Iceland to surpass their opponents. They are ranked higher thanks to Spain's draw with Iraq and France's defeat to Ivory Coast.
Therefore, the Argentina team will face the World Cup curse in the US, Mexico and Canada. Since the FIFA rankings were born, no team that entered the World Cup with the number 1 position in the world has ever won the championship.
The Brazilian team came to the 2022 Qatar World Cup with the world number one position, but the victory belonged to the Argentina team (3rd place). In Russia in 2018, the German team ranked No. 1 on the FIFA rankings, but the French team (7th place) won glory.
A similar situation also occurred in Brazil 2014 when Spain came as the number one team in the world but collapsed in the group stage. Germany (2nd place) won the World Cup. The 2010 World Cup that Spain won also took place in a similar scenario. Brazil was considered a bright candidate, but in the end Spain (2nd place) won.
In 2006, the Italian team - then ranked 13th in the world before the World Cup - won a spectacular championship, while Brazil lost in the quarterfinals. In 2002, the Brazilian team won the championship when they were ranked 2nd in the world, and the world No. 1 team, France, was surprisingly eliminated in the group stage.
The same thing happened in the last century. In France in 1998, the host team won the World Cup, but before the tournament, they were only ranked 18th in the world. Brazil, the number one team in the world, failed in the final against Zidane, Blanc, Barthez and their teammates.
A similar trend was also seen at the 1994 World Cup. The German team led the FIFA rankings - which were newly established at the end of 1992, but at the 1994 World Cup, the Brazilian team won the championship after defeating Italy in the final.
In 8 consecutive World Cups, the team considered the strongest in the world has returned empty-handed. That curse is waiting for Argentina to resolve.
At the 2026 World Cup, the Argentina team will play in the group stage against Jordan, Algeria and Austria. If they win the championship, Messi and his teammates will successfully defend their titles, equal their achievements with the Brazilian team (1958, 1962) and Italy (1934, 1938) as well as resolve the curse of history.
