FIFA unveil first football rankings after World Cup 2022, Argentina is still not on top

World football body FIFA has released the first edition of the rankings since the commencement of the World Cup, in which the Argentina football team emerged victorious. The Lionel Messi-led side registered an outstanding 4-2 win against defending champions France on penalties after the scores were tied at 3-3 after extra time. Even though La Albiceleste won the tournament, they are still not the top-ranked team as per the latest edition of the FIFA rankings.

Brazil maintain top ranking after FIFA World Cup 2022

Despite being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the recently concluded World Cup by Croatia, Brazil maintain the top spot in the latest edition of the FIFA rankings. Meanwhile, recently crowned champions Argentina jump one spot into second, ahead of runners-up France, who also gained a place.

Meanwhile, the Belgium football team dropped two places after being knocked out in the quarter-finals of the tournament. England remain in fifth while both the Netherlands (+2) and Croatia (+5) gain places. They are followed by Italy in eighth, Portugal in ninth and Spain in tenth. Morocco was the biggest gainer in the FIFA rankings as they jumped 11 places to 11th following their stunning semi-final finish at the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Argentina won a cracking nail-biting contest against France to win World Cup

The Argentina vs France game went back and forth as it began with Argentina taking a 2-0 lead at half-time with Lionel Messi and Angel Di María scoring a goal each. While it seemed that La Albiceleste may hold on because of France's disastrous start, 24-year-old Kylian Mbappe changed the course of the game.

The Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) forward scored a brace in the second half to take the game into extra time. Just when it seemed that the momentum of the match had turned towards France, Messi scored a third for Argentina in the 108th minute but unfortunately, his side could once again not hold on. 

Mbappe stepped up again and equalized to take the clash into penalties and complete his outstanding hat trick. While Mbappe also scored his penalty in the shootout, the rest of the French team could not step up as two of them failed to put the ball in the back of the net. With Argentina scoring all of their first four penalties, they went on to win the FIFA World Cup 2022 tournament, their first title in 36 years (1978, 1986).