Argentina players celebrate with their families and World Cup trophies after a friendly against Panama, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 23.AGUSTIN MARCARIAN
World Cup winner Argentina topped the latest FIFA rankings for the first time in six years while the Canadian men, boosted by CONCACAF Nations League wins over Curacao and Honduras, climbed six places to No. 47.
Argentina’s two wins in friendlies last month ended the one-year run at the top for Brazil, which lost at Morocco 2-1 and fell to No. 3.
France, the World Cup runner-up, jumped one rung to No. 2 on the strength of European Championship qualifying wins over the sixth-ranked Netherlands and No. 49 Ireland.
Belgium stayed at No. 4, with England next after two wins including beating No. 8 Italy. Europe completed the top 10 with No. 7 Croatia followed by Italy, Portugal and Spain.
Despite its rise, Canada remains fourth in CONCACAF behind the 13th-ranked Americans and No. 15 Mexico, both of which were unchanged, and No. 39 Costa Rica, which dropped seven spots.
John Herdman’s team, which won 2-0 at Curacao and beat Honduras 4-1 last month, was ranked 41st going into the World Cup in Qatar in November but fell 12 places to No. 52 in the post-tournament rankings in December.
Panama, Canada’s semi-final opponent in June in the CONCACAF Nations League, rose three places to No. 58 in the rankings released Thursday.
Morocco, which has joined the Spanish and Portuguese in a 2030 World Cup bidding plan, remained at No. 11 to lead African teams.
Japan at No. 20 was the best of the Asian teams. World Cup host Qatar slipped one spot to No. 61.
Central African Republic was the biggest mover in the new rankings, jumping 10 places to No. 122. Cameroon was the biggest loser, down nine places at No. 42.
The Olympic champion Canadian women are ranked sixth in the world.