Desk Report,
Argentina is no longer number one in the FIFA rankings, which is also ‘good news’ for Messi
Losing the number one position in the rankings is bad news for Argentina. However, if you want, Argentine fans can also consider it as ‘good news’. Why? Before explaining that, let’s find out why Argentina is losing the top spot in the FIFA rankings.
Argentina is no longer number one in the FIFA rankings, which is also ‘good news’ for Messi
World champions Argentina lost 1-0 to Ecuador in their last match in the World Cup qualifiers on Wednesday (September 10) morning, Bangladesh time. This is Lionel Scaloni’s ninth defeat as Argentina’s coach. However, it did not hurt his team much. Because, they had already confirmed their ticket for the 2026 World Cup. This match was therefore a rule-breaking match for Argentina.
But the loss in this match in Quito is affecting Argentina’s position in the FIFA rankings. Argentina has been the number one team in the FIFA rankings since April 2023. Their current points are 1885.36. Spain is second with 1867.09 points and France is third with 1862.03 points. The current ranking is valid until September 17. According to the FIFA website, the new ranking will be published on September 18. According to the calculations, Argentina will not be at the top of the new ranking. TYC Sports reported that Spain will move to number one in the ranking, France will come in second. Lionel Scaloni’s team will drop to third place. Spain is returning to the top of the FIFA ranking after 11 years, they were last seen at number one before the 2014 World Cup. After a long wait, La Roja is getting that taste again, and their great performance in the European World Cup qualifiers is a big role behind this. Spain recently defeated Bulgaria 3-0 and crushed Turkey 6-0.
Spain has moved forward not only by its own victory, but also by some luck. Because Argentina stumbled.
FIFA’s ranking is based on the ‘Elo rating’ (elo). Hungarian-born chess and physics professor Arpad Elo is the inventor of this system. The current performance of the teams is judged and analyzed in this system. In big tournaments, winning against strong teams is more important in this ranking system. If a team defeats an opponent who is ahead of them in the ranking, it will get more points than if it defeats an opponent who is behind them in the ranking. Argentina will lose points if it loses to Ecuador. Argentina did not gain much in the ranking after beating Venezuela 3-0 in the previous match. Because, Venezuela (46th, points 1477.02) is a team behind Argentina in the ranking. Ecuador is 23rd in the ranking with 1570.68 points. Their position will be better in the next ranking and points will also be added. Because they beat Argentina, a comparatively better team in the rankings. Spain and France won both of their matches in September and Argentina won one of their two matches and lost the other. Argentina will therefore lose points and points will be added next to the names of Spain and France.
