Brazil still tops the FIFA World Ranking with a slight edge over the World Cup champions 

The latest FIFA rankings have been released to reveal some significant changes for several national teams following the Qatar World Cup.

Still on top as the No. 1 team on the planet is Brazil, who holds a total points tally of 1840.77, just over two points more than Argentina’s 1838.38.

The Brazilians have the ranking rules to thank as the 2018 point system factors in several conditions, including penalty shoot-outs, which are worth fewer points than regulation-time wins.

Since Argentina defeated France in extra time, they were allocated fewer points and thus positioning them as the “second-best team.”

France follows the Argentinas as third with 1823.39 points, moving up once since their latest mark.

Belgium’s golden generation performed relatively poorly at the World Cup as Morocco eliminated the team 2-0 at the Group Stages.

Sought to be a contender, the Red Devils have dropped two places, losing 35.41 to climb down to fourth on the leaderboard.

Big climbers

The Moroccans captured the attention of billions worldwide as they crusaded into the World Cup, becoming the first African and Arab team to do so in all of FIFA history.

Coached by new-timer Walid Regragui, the Atlas Lions surged up 11 spots to 11th in the world with 1672.35 total points.

With an average ranking of 44, the North Africans previously ranked as low as 95th and as high as 10th.

Meanwhile, the Japanese moved four spots to 20th, while the young Americans and the Swiss each moved up three spots.

The Americans rank 13th in the world at 1652.74 points, slightly under Switzerland, who have ascended to 12th at 1655.02.

Expected to fumble in their Group Stages, the Socceroos fought into the last 16 at the World Cup, losing to the World Cup champs.

The move pushed them 11 spots to 27th under Ukraine, who didn’t qualify for the Qatar World Cup.

Legend Vincent Aboubakar put on a show for his country, defeating Brazil in a shocking match that marked the first time an African nation beat the South Americans at the World Cup.

Cameroon has moved ten places to 33rd, honoring their best rank since 2009 when they were 11th in the world.

Sinking ships

Qatar dropped ten spots as the team lost all three group matches, becoming the first World Cup hosts ever to do so.

Previously at 50th, Qatar is placed at 60th on the FIFA ranking, their worst since 2018 when they held 93rd in the football world.

Lack of scoring and consistency led the team to an embarrassing loss with several other groups, including Wales, Serbia, Canada, and Denmark.

Wales slipped nine places to 28th, while Serbia moved down eight to 30th.

The Canadians put an early show in their group but couldn’t keep up, as they have now fallen 12 spots to 53rd.

Dubbed a dark horse in the tournament, Denmark drove down eight spots to 18th, their worst ranking since 2016.