Fifa's World Rankings for January 2026 were published on January 19, 2026 at FIFA HQ in Zurich in Switzerland.
The first rankings of the year with just six months to go to World Cup 2026 saw some significant changes in the top 20 teams since December.
Euro 2024 winners Spain still remain top with World Cup winners Argentina second with France in third. England are again unchanged in fourth.
Next comes Brazil, Portugal, The Netherlands, losing Afcon finalists Morocco, Belgium, then Germany in 10th. Croatia are 11th with Euro 2020 winners Italy 13th. Afcon winners Senegal climb seven spots to 12th.
Wales are 35th. The USA are in 15th place.
Australia are in 27th place; Japan, who have already qualified for World Cup 2026 as have Australia, are in 19th position. South Korea are 22nd.
Scotland who have qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 are 38th. The Republic of Ireland are in 59th place, while Northern Ireland are unchanged again in 69th. The lowest-ranked team is San Marino in 210th place with Eritrea unranked.
| Ranking | Team |
| 1 | Spain |
| 2 | Argentina |
| 3 | France |
| 4 | England |
| 5 | Brazil |
| 6 | Portugal |
| 7 | The Netherlands |
| 8 | Morocco |
| 9 | Belgium |
| 10 | Germany |
| 11 | Croatia |
| 12 | Senegal |
| 13 | Italy |
| 14 | Colombia |
| 15 | USA |
| 16 | Mexico |
| 17 | Uruguay |
| 18 | Switzerland |
| 19 | Japan |
| 20 | Iran |
| 21 | Denmark |
| 22 | Korea Republic |
| 23 | Ecuador |
| 24 | Austria |
| 25 | Turkey |
| 26 | Nigeria |
| 27 | Australia |
| 28 | Algeria |
| 29 | Canada |
| 30 | Ukraine |
| 31 | Egypt |
| 32 | Norway |
| 33 | Panama |
| 34 | Poland |
| 35 | Wales |
| 36 | Russia |
| 37 | Côte d'Ivoire |
| 38 | Scotland |
| 39 | Serbia |
| 40 | Paraguay |
| 41 | Hungary |
| 42 | Sweden |
| 43 | Czechia |
| 44 | Slovakia |
| 45 | Cameroon |
| 46 | Greece |
| 47 | Tunisia |
| 48 | Congo DR |
| 49 | Romania |
| 50 | Venezuela |
| 51 | Costa Rica |
| 52 | Uzbekistan |
| 53 | Peru |
| 54 | Mali |
| 55 | Chile |
| 56 | Qatar |
| 57 | Slovenia |
| 58 | Iraq |
| 59 | Republic of Ireland |
| 60 | South Africa |
| 61 | Saudi Arabia |
| 62 | Burkina Faso |
| 63 | Albania |
| 64 | Jordan |
| 65 | Honduras |
| 66 | North Macedonia |
| 67 | Cabo Verde (Cape Verde Islands) |
| 68 | United Arab Emirates |
| 69 | Northern Ireland |
| 70 | Jamaica |
| 71 | Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| 72 | Ghana |
| 73 | Georgia |
| 74 | Iceland |
| 75 | Finland |
| 76 | Bolivia |
| 77 | Israel |
| 78 | Oman |
| 79 | Kosovo |
| 80 | Guinea |
| 81 | Curacao (formerly Netherlands Antilles) |
| 82 | Montenegro |
| 83 | Haiti |
| 84 | Syria |
| 85 | New Zealand |
| 86 | Gabon |
| 87 | Bulgaria |
| 88 | Uganda |
| 89 | Angola |
| 90 | Bahrain |
| 91 | Zambia |
| 92 | Benin |
| 93 | China |
| 94 | Guatemala |
| 95 | Palestine |
| 96 | Thailand |
| 97 | Trinidad & Tobago |
| 98 | Belarus |
| 99 | El Salvador |
| 100 | Tajikistan |
| 101 | Mozambique |
| 102 | Luxembourg |
| 103 | Kyrgyz Republic |
| 104 | Madagascar |
| 105 | Armenia |
| 106 | Comoros |
| 107 | Equatorial Guinea |
| 108 | Vietnam |
| 109 | Lebanon |
| 110 | Tanzania |
| 111 | Niger |
| 112 | Libya |
| 113 | Kenya |
| 114 | Mauritania |
| 115 | Kazakhstan |
| 116 | Gambia |
| 117 | Sudan |
| 118 | Namibia |
| 119 | Korea DPR |
| 120 | Sierra Leone |
| 121 | Malaysia |
| 122 | Indonesia |
| 123 | Suriname |
| 124 | Togo |
| 125 | Faroe Islands |
| 126 | Malawi |
| 127 | Azerbaijan |
| 128 | Cyprus |
| 129 | Estonia |
| 130 | Rwanda |
| 131 | Nicaragua |
| 132 | Zimbabwe |
| 133 | Guinea-Bissau |
| 134 | Congo |
| 135 | Kuwait |
| 136 | Philippines |
| 137 | Turkmenistan |
| 138 | Central African Republic |
| 139 | Latvia |
| 140 | Liberia |
| 141 | India |
| 142 | Dominican Republic |
| 143 | Lesotho |
| 144 | Botswana |
| 145 | Burundi |
| 146 | Lithuania |
| 147 | Ethiopia |
| 148 | Singapore |
| 149 | Yemen |
| 150 | New Caledonia |
| 151 | Guyana |
| 152 | Solomon Islands |
| 153 | Hong Kong |
| 154 | St Kitts and Nevis |
| 155 | Fiji |
| 156 | Puerto Rico |
| 157 | Tahiti |
| 158 | Moldova |
| 159 | Swaziland (Eswatini) |
| 160 | Vanuatu |
| 161 | Malta |
| 162 | Afghanistan |
| 163 | Myanmar |
| 164 | Grenada |
| 165 | Antigua & Barbuda |
| 166 | Cuba |
| 167 | St Lucia |
| 168 | South Sudan |
| 169 | Bermuda |
| 170 | Papua New Guinea |
| 171 | St Vincent and the Grenadines |
| 172 | Andorra |
| 173 | Maldives |
| 174 | Chinese Taipei |
| 175 | Montserrat |
| 176 | Mauritius |
| 177 | Chad |
| 178 | Barbados |
| 179 | Cambodia |
| 180 | Bangladesh |
| 181 | Belize |
| 182 | Nepal |
| 183 | Dominica |
| 184 | American Samoa |
| 185 | Mongolia |
| 186 | Cook Islands |
| 187 | Samoa |
| 188 | Brunei Darussalam |
| 189 | São Tomé e Príncipe |
| 190 | Laos |
| 191 | Aruba |
| 192 | Bhutan |
| 193 | Macau |
| 194 | Sri Lanka |
| 195 | Caymen Islands |
| 196 | Djibouti |
| 197 | Tonga |
| 198 | Timor Leste |
| 199 | Pakistan |
| 200 | Somalia |
| 201 | Guam |
| 202 | Gibraltar |
| 203 | Seychelles |
| 204 | Turks & Caicos Islands |
| 205 | Liechtenstein |
| 206 | Bahamas |
| 207 | US Virgin Islands |
| 208 | British Virgin Islands |
| 209 | Anguilla |
| 210 | San Marino |
| Unranked | Eritrea |
Source: www.fifa.com
April 2024 Fifa World Rankings
October 2022 Fifa World Rankings
April 2021 Fifa World Rankings
November 2020 Fifa World Rankings
December 2016 Fifa World Rankings
November 2016 Fifa World Rankings
October 2016 Fifa World Rankings
September 2015 Fifa World Rankings
August 2013 Fifa World Rankings
Match Result: - Win-Draw-Defeat = 3 points - 1 points – 0 points
Importance of match - 1 (friendly match) to 4 (FIFA World Cup™)
Strength of opponent - Position in world ranking (no. 1 = 2.00, no. 30 = 1.70, no. 118 = 0.82 etc.) Formula: [200 minus Position] / 100
Regional strength - Based on results in last three FIFA World Cups (wins per confederation per match)
Period - Since the change to the FIFA World Ranking procedure which came into effect in August 2006 the rankings will no longer take into account the last eight years of results only the last four years of results.
Last four years, gradual decline in importance of results: 100%- 50% - 30% - 20%
Number of matches considered per year - Average points gained from all matches in last 12 months (minimum: 5 matches)