Brazil falls to fifth in the FIFA national team rankings – 11/30/2023 – Sport

The Brazilian team’s poor performance in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers cost the team led by Fernando Diniz two positions in the FIFA (International Football Federation) national team rankings.

In an update published this Thursday (30), Brazil appears in fifth, compared to third place in September. It is the worst position since August 2016, when the country was in ninth.

The drop in the ranking reflects the team’s defeats in qualifying matches for the World Cup. In the last rounds of the competition, Brazil embarked on an unprecedented sequence of three consecutive defeats, against Uruguay (2 x 0), Colombia (2 x 1) and Argentina (1 x 0).

The worst position ever achieved by the five-time champion team in the FIFA ranking, created in 1993, was 18th, between 2012 and 2013. At the time, Brazil was disadvantaged by not competing in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, as it was the host country, which prevented the team from adding points towards the ranking.

The leadership of the FIFA rankings updated this Thursday went to current world champion Argentina, followed by France, which finished runner-up in the Qatar Cup.

England and Belgium, who lead their respective groups in qualifying for the 2024 Euro Cup, having already guaranteed their presence in the continental tournament, rose one position each, placing themselves in third and fourth position, respectively.

The top ten completes five European teams also qualified for the European Championship: Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Croatia.

Among the South American teams, Uruguay, second in the Qualifiers table, rose four places to 11th, while Colombia, third in the World Cup qualifiers, rose from 17th to 15th.

Of all the teams, the one that grew the most in the ranking was Cameroon, which rose nine positions to 46th, thanks to its good performance in the African qualifiers for the World Cup.

The next ranking will be published by FIFA on December 21st.