Argentina back at the top of top of FIFA rankings, while Brazil slip to third and England stay fifth

World champions Argentina dethroned Brazil and returned to the top of the FIFA rankings on Thursday after a six-year gap.

Argentina, who won last year’s World Cup in Qatar by beating France in the final, achieved the No 1 spot after Lionel Scaloni’s side beat Panama 2-0 and Curacao 7-0 in friendlies.

Captain Lionel Messi brought up two milestones in those fixtures, netting his 800th career goal in a 2-0 victory over Panama before reaching 100 international goals as he scored a hat-trick in a 7-0 rout of Curacao. 

Argentina had dropped to 12th in 2018 after an underwhelming campaign at the World Cup in Russia. 

France moved up one place to second after a 4-0 win over the Netherlands and 1-0 victory in Ireland in Euro 2024 qualifiers, while Brazil slipped to third after losing 2-1 away to Morocco in a friendly.

World champions Argentina have returned to the top of the FIFA rankings after a six-year gap

Belgium remained fourth, England were fifth followed by the Netherlands in sixth, Croatia seventh and Italy eighth. Portugal and Spain completed the top 10.

The United States remained 13th, two ahead of regional rival Mexico. 

The Central African Republic were the biggest movers in the latest rankings, jumping 10 places to 122nd.