FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) has released its latest men's national team world rankings, with Spain returning to the top spot after 11 years, 2 months and 1 day.
The last time Spain held the No. 1 position in the FIFA men's world rankings was in the rankings released on June 5, 2014. After being eliminated in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup, it lost its No. 1 status and dropped to 8th place in the FIFA rankings published on July 17, 2014.
For other national teams, England, the Netherlands and Belgium maintained their rankings unchanged, continuing to occupy 4th, 7th and 8th places respectively. Argentina, Brazil and Germany all saw their rankings decline after recording one win and one loss each in World Cup qualifiers: Argentina fell 2 places to 3rd, Brazil dropped 1 place to 6th, and Germany slid 3 places to 12th.
Meanwhile, France, Portugal, Croatia and Italy—having secured two consecutive wins—moved up in the rankings. Among them, France climbed to 2nd place, Portugal to 5th, Croatia to 9th, and Italy returned to the top 10.