Defending World Cup champion Argentina vaulted back into the top spot of the FIFA Men’s World Ranking in the latest poll that was released just hours before the 2026 tournament was set to begin.

Argentina, who won the 2022 World Cup at Qatar with a victory in penalties over France, had not held the top spot in the rankings since July of 2025. They jumped two spots from No. 3 after World Cup tune-up victories over Iceland and Honduras.

Argentina, led by star Lionel Messi, are set to play their World Cup opener in Group J on Tuesday at Kansas City, Mo., against Algeria. They also have group-stage matches scheduled for June 22 against Austria and June 27 against Jordan, both at Arlington, Texas.

Of the three co-hosts for this year’s World Cup, Mexico are ranked the highest, moving up one spot to No. 14. The United States dropped one spot to No. 17 with Canada at No. 30.

Spain remained second in the FIFA poll, while France dropped from the top spot to No. 3 after losing a tune-up match to Ivory Coast before defeating Northern Ireland.

England were in the No. 4 spot followed by Portugal at No. 5.

No teams dropped from the top 10, with Brazil staying at No. 6, while Morocco moved up one spot to No. 7. Netherlands dropped a spot to No. 8, while Belgium remained at No. 9 and Germany held at No. 10.

Mexico were set to begin their World Cup run Thursday afternoon against South Africa at Mexico City. Canada will open group play Friday afternoon against Bosnia-Herzegovina at Toronto, while the United States will face Paraguay on Friday night at Inglewood, Calif.

No. 12 Italy are the highest-ranked team not participating in the 2026 World Cup after they failed to qualify, while No. 21 Denmark and No. 26 Nigeria also are not participating.

–Field Level Media