World champions Argentina have retained their place at the top of the latest FIFA world rankings released on Thursday, reinforcing their status as favourites ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup .
Spain remain second, while France dropped to third after suffering a defeat before bouncing back with subsequent wins. England and Portugal complete the top five, followed by Brazil in sixth position .
The Super Eagles maintained 26th position in the global rankings despite a mixed run of results under head coach Eric Chelle . Nigeria impressed at the Unity Cup in London, defeating Zimbabwe 2-0 and Jamaica 3-0 .
However, the three-time African champions were later held to a 2-2 draw by Poland before suffering a narrow 2-1 defeat to Portugal in an international friendly on Wednesday night .
On the continental table, Nigeria remains the third-highest-ranked team in Africa, behind Morocco (7th in the world) and Senegal (14th). Algeria and Egypt complete Africa’s top five .
The latest rankings arrive as the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off across the United States, Mexico, and Canada — a tournament Nigeria will miss despite being the second-highest-ranked nation absent from the expanded 48-team competition, behind only Denmark (21st) .
The next FIFA rankings update is scheduled for Monday, July 20 .
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