Geneva, Sept. 19 -- Spain climbed to the top of the latest FIFA Men's World Ranking for the first time in 11 years, ending Argentina's two-year reign.
The world champions slipped to third, behind France, after a 1-0 loss to Ecuador in CONMEBOL qualifying for the 2026 World Cup on September 9.
Argentina had already secured their World Cup berth in March and clinched top spot in the qualifying standings before their final-round defeat.
Spain began their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 3-0 win over Bulgaria before sweeping Turkiye 6-0 away. The last time Spain topped the rankings was in June 2014, when they were both world and European champions.
France also enjoyed a strong start to UEFA qualifying, defeating Ukraine 2-0 and Iceland ...