Lionel Messi’s Argentina beats Kylian Mbappe’s France in the FIFA rankings after the October international break

Lionel Messi And Kylian Mbappe are in very different circumstances with their national teams: one has already qualified for the 2026 World Cup, the other is still in the hunt for a ticket. Yet both countries made headlines during the October international window, as Argentina has officially overtaken France in the latest FIFA rankings.

Qualification for the World Cup was already secured for Argentina in March. Now that the CONMEBOL qualifications have been completed, The Albiceleste used October to continue preparations with a few friendly matches. The reigning world champions defeated Venezuela 1-0 without Messi before welcoming him back for a dominant 6-0 win over Puerto Rico to end their US tour on a high note.

Meanwhile, France faced matchdays 3 and 4 of UEFA qualifying and wanted to take a big step towards qualification. The Blues started with a 3-0 win over Azerbaijan — a match that saw Mbappe suffered an injury that ruled him out of the next match against Iceland. Without their captain, France were held to a 2-2 draw in Reykjavik.

Despite leading Group D by ten points, the draw proved to be a setback, not only in the French qualifying battle, but also in the FIFA rankings. With two wins in Miami, Argentina climbed to second place, causing France to drop to thirdwhile Spain remains the undisputed leader at the top of the table.

The updated rankings are of extra importance in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup draw. as FIFA uses the rankings to determine the seeding pots. Based on current projections, Pot 1 is expected to include Mexico, the United States and Canada (the three co-hosts), followed by Spain, Argentina, FranceEngland, Portugal, Brazil, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

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When will the next FIFA rankings be released?

In the previous update Argentina lost its number 1 position after more than two years at the top of the rankingsa run that stretched from winning the 2022 World Cup through to the 2024 Copa América. With Spain and France taking the lead, Messi’s team is now set to regain at least one of those positions.

FIFA will publish the next world rankings on October 22where Argentina, currently at 1,870.32 points, is expected to pass France, who is at 1,870.92 points. The draw against Iceland was enough to cost The Blues crucial ground.

Argentina and France won’t be the only teams swapping places in the Top 10. The Netherlands (currently seventh) is expected to move ahead of Brazil (sixth), while Croatia (ninth) could drop out of the Top 10 altogether – overtaken by Italy (10th) and Germany (12th).