Spain takes Argentina's spot atop world rankings

Spain overtook Argentina for the No. 1 spot in the FIFA men's world rankings, as expected after La Roja defeated the defending champion 1-0 in the World Cup final a day earlier.

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Argentina was the No. 1 team in the world rankings as of the last official rankings update on 11 June, the day the 48-team World Cup began in Mexico. Spain entered the tournament No. 2.

France and England remained third and fourth, respectively, despite England's 6-4 triumph over the French in the World Cup third-place match. France still had enough of a cushion in the total points column to absorb that head-to-head defeat.

Brazil and Morocco moved past Portugal for the fifth and sixth spots. Portugal lost 1-0 to regional rival Spain in the round of 16.

Mexico climbed four spots in the 10th position after its strong showing at the World Cup. It went 3-0-0 in the group stage and blanked Ecuador 2-0 in the round of 32 before England pulled out a 3-2 win in the next round in Mexico City.

United States also inched up one spot to No. 16 after winning its group and shutting out Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32. The Americans' tournament ended in a disappointing 4-1 defeat at the hands of Belgium, ranked eighth.

But the biggest climber was none other than Erling Haaland and Norway, who moved up 12 spots to No. 19.

The Vikings became one of the darlings of the tournament after getting through to the knockouts and upsetting Brazil in the round of 16. Their tournament also ended at the hands of England, 2-1 in the quarterfinals, but it was Norway's furthest ever World Cup run.

The nation with the largest drop since June, Tunisia, also moved 12 spots. It sits back at No. 57 after being the only African nation out of 10 in the field not to qualify for the knockouts.

Both Australia and New Zealand dropped one place each to 28th and 86th respectively.