ZURICH (AP) — Spain remains in first place. FIFA men’s world rankings released on Friday Signs Germany is back on track to become the top-seeded team in the World Cup finals December 5th US President Donald Trump participates.
Germany moved up two places to 10th place with consecutive wins over Luxembourg and Northern Ireland in their World Cup qualifying group. Germany lost to Slovakia in the opening qualifying round last month.
Croatia, who were runners-up at the 2018 World Cup and advanced to the semi-finals of the 2022 tournament, dropped to 11th place after a one-game draw against the Czech Republic last week.
The 12 top seeds in the 48-team draw will be the co-hosts of the United States, Canada and Mexico, as well as the top nine direct qualifiers in the FIFA rankings, which will be updated in November.
Italy, currently in ninth place, are likely to go into March’s European play-offs as second in Norway’s qualifying group, meaning the 10th-ranked team will certainly avoid playing the other top-seeded nations in the draw for the tournament, which runs from June 11 to July 19.
Spain lead World Cup winners Argentina, followed by France in third, England, Portugal, Netherlands and Brazil, and Belgium in eighth.
Seeding for the World Cup draw will follow the FIFA rankings up to Pots 2 and 3, with Pot 4 containing the bottom six direct qualifiers and six placeholders awaiting the March play-off winners.
Four European teams will advance to the play-offs, with two more spots in the world slot consisting of six non-European teams, including Bolivia and New Caledonia.
Friday’s October rankings confirmed the dates for next month’s African playoff spots, which will determine which teams advance to intercontinental play. The matchups are Nigeria vs. Gabon and Cameroon vs. Congo.
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