Mueez Ajao
– Brazil will go to the World Cup as the top-ranked team after extending their lead over second-place Belgium in the latest FIFA rankings released on Thursday.
– They are the only nation to have competed in every World Cup finals and will go into next month’s tournament in Qatar seeking a record-extending sixth crown.
– Brazil won their two warm-up games in September — against Ghana and Tunisia — while Belgium lost to the Netherlands in one of their two UEFA Nations League games.
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– Argentina stayed at No. 3 and 2018 World Cup champions France remained at No. 4.
– The World Cup in Qatar starts on Nov. 20.
– Qatar will be the 50th-ranked team, just ahead of No. 51 Saudi Arabia. Ghana will be the lowest ranked team at No. 61.
– Group B at the World Cup is the strongest by rankings with all four teams in the top 20: No. 5 England, No. 16 United States, No. 19 Wales and No. 20 Iran.
– Italy rose one place to No. 6 and are the highest-ranked team that failed to qualify for the World Cup, missing back-to-back editions. Spain fell one place to No. 7, with Netherlands, Portugal and Denmark unchanged to complete the top 10.
Brazil lead the way into the #FIFAWorldCup 📈🇧🇷
Here’s the FINAL #FIFARanking ahead of #Qatar2022! pic.twitter.com/tIKd2FZIzt
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) October 6, 2022
– Germany, the 2014 world champions, are No. 11, just ahead of 2018 finalists Croatia.
– Also, Russia rose two places to No. 33 despite not playing a recognised game in 2022 because the national team was suspended following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
