This year, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) introduced a live ranking update feature, allowing fans to follow the progress of teams throughout from before, during and after the World Cup.
Before the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup, France rose to the top of the rankings with 1,925.86 points after accumulating impressive points in the round of 16, when defeating Paraguay 1-0.
France's opponent in the quarterfinals is Morocco, increasing one place to 6th in the world with 1,803.99 points. They are close to Brazil, who lost to Norway 1-2 in the round of 16.
The Spanish team has shown extremely impressive performances at this year's major tournament, they still dropped to third place in the world rankings simply because France has accumulated more points than them.
While Les Bleus (nickname of the French team) have won all matches since the beginning of the tournament, Spain had a goalless draw with Cabo Verde in the group stage. Luis de la Fuente's team still maintained their top position thanks to a narrow 1-0 victory over Portugal, a team that dropped two places to seventh place.
Spain's next opponent is Belgium, who defeated the US team 4-1 in the round of 16. Although the squad is not rated as highly as the opponent, the Belgian team is in an excited mood and ready to defeat Spain. In the rankings, the Belgian team is ranked 8th.
Norway is the team with the most outstanding progress since the 2026 World Cup kicked off. In their first World Cup participation since 1998, the Northern European team advanced straight to the quarter-finals, with the brilliant performance of striker Erling Haaland - who has scored 7 goals since the beginning of the tournament. With their achievements, Norway has risen 12 places, ranking 19th in the world.
The Norwegian team will meet England in a highly anticipated quarter-final match. England is currently ranked 4th in the world, with stable form from the duo Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham - who have scored 10/11 goals for the team since the beginning of the tournament.
Although the Argentine team has won all five matches at this tournament so far, according to FIFA, the points they accumulated are slightly lower than the French team, so they are only ranked 2nd in the world. However, the gap between the 2 teams is very small when Argentina's score is 1,925.15.
In the quarterfinals, Messi and his teammates will face Switzerland, who have risen 5 places to 14th in the world. The goal of the European team is to win a place in the top 10 for the first time in seven years, and they are striving to maintain good form in North America.
