Football News: Despite Argentina's World Cup win, Brazil top the FIFA World Rankings
Despite Argentina's inspiring FIFA World Cup victory — their first since 1986 and third overall — Brazil will remain at the top of the FIFA World Rankings this month.
Brazil Ranked No.1Brazil have been world number one since February 2022, when they overtook Belgium, and even their unforeseen quarterfinal exit in Qatar wasn't enough for the new world champions to overtake them.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Brazil remain the No.1 ranked side in the world despite Argentina's World Cup victory 👀🇧🇷 <a href="https://t.co/LpGPhrGpLY">pic.twitter.com/LpGPhrGpLY</a></p>— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/1604842756655955970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Brazil won three games out of four in the group stage. They advanced to the knockouts despite losing against Cameroon, and in the quarterfinals, they lost to 2018 finalists Croatia.
On the other hand, Argentina won four games but lost one to Saudi Arabia in Qatar. They won two penalty shootouts, including the final on Sunday, where they bested France 4-2 on spot kicks after a 3-3 draw.
Argentina won the Copa America in 2021 and are now the newly crowned world champions. However, they are still behind Brazil in the rankings.
It is common knowledge that shootout wins bring fewer ranking points than regulation-time wins. If France or Argentina won within 120 minutes, including 30 minutes of extra time, they would have dethroned Brazil in the rankings.
However, Argentina and France have climbed one spot each to second and third place respectively. Formerly second-ranked Belgium, eliminated in the group stage, slid down two spots to fourth.
Meanwhile, Gareth Southgate's England retained fifth place after making it to the quarterfinals, where they lost to France due to an ill-timed second-half penalty miss by captain Harry Kane.
The Netherlands lost to Argentina in the quarterfinals and slumped into the sixth position from fourth. Elsewhere, Croatia could not go as far as the final but won the third-place playoff match that landed them in the seventh position in the rankings.