In recent years the men’s England team has probably been as strong as it ever has, aside from that year they won the World Cup, sometime way back in 1966 or something. Under current boss, Gareth Southgate, The Three Lions were fourth at the 2018 World Cup, lost the final of the Euros in 2021 and were narrowly beaten by France in the quarters of the 2022 World Cup when arguably looking like the best team in the tournament. However, despite these strong results, and qualifying for the 2024 Euros as winners of Group C ahead of Italy, when FIFA published their latest world rankings, Gareth Southgate’s men were third.
The latest update came on the 30th of November 2023 and saw the Three Lions ahead of the likes of Belgium, Brazil and Spain, but behind France and world champions and world number-one-ranked Argentina. That said, Harry Kane and co had been fourth in the world since June, so they are moving in the right direction. But have they ever topped the pile and been FIFA’s number-one ranked side?
England Have Not Topped FIFA Rankings… Yet
To quickly and simply answer the question in the title of this article, England have not topped FIFA’s world rankings. The system only began in 1992, in December, and as anyone who has followed the Three Lions over the last 30 years and more will know, it has not generally been a period of great glory or joy.
That said, England’s average rank over the years has been 10th, which some may argue is respectable, whilst others will feel it is very disappointing. Of course, football is the globe’s most popular sport and there are so many nations that have it as their national game. In addition, England’s population is far smaller than that of many rivals, and whilst the Premier League is comfortably the richest league in the world, funding for the game at the grassroots level has not always been adequate.
Even so, things are looking bright for Southgate’s men at the moment and the boss has stated that topping the rankings is a goal for the team. Asked if he was interested in the FIFA standings and motivated by them he replied:
Yeah, because ultimately you achieve that through consistency and you’ve got to play well in the tournaments as well because the ranking points are higher in the tournaments. Also, it sets behaviours every day on the training pitch, off the training pitch.
Southgate, his squad, and all the fans would, of course, much prefer to win the Euros or World Cup than to reach the summit of the FIFA rankings though. But as Southgate implied, the two often go hand in hand, and the perfect result in Germany in 2024 would certainly go a long way towards helping England hit the number one spot.
England’s Highest Ranking
As said, the Three Lions are currently third according to FIFA and that is as high as they have ever been. They have been fourth or fifth for all of the past five years since their fine performance at Russia 2018. However, following the most recent international break they edged up the table to sit third, with only France and Argentina ahead of them. As of the update on the 30th of November 2023, the top looks like so:
| Rank | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Argentina | 1855.20 |
| 2 | France | 1845.44 |
| 3 | England | 1800.05 |
| 4 | Belgium | 1798.46 |
| 5 | Brazil | 1784.09 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 1745.48 |
| 7 | Portugal | 1745.06 |
| 8 | Spain | 1732.64 |
| 9 | Italy | 1718.82 |
| 10 | Croatia | 1717.57 |
England actually have fewer ranking points now than they had in the last table, having dropped from 1807.88 to their current mark. However, they and Belgium moved up the table due to Brazil’s large reduction in points, Brazil moving from 1812.20 to 1784.09 after a disastrous run of results in World Cup qualification.
Which Teams Have Topped the FIFA Rankings?
Whilst things might not be looking quite so bright for Brazil right now, following defeats against Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay, and a draw with Venezuela before that, the South American behemoths have topped the FIFA charts for longer than any other nation. Brazil, who have won the World Cup a record five times, first earned number-one status in 1993. They spent most of the rest of the 1990s in that spot in large part due to winning the 1994 World Cup in America and making the final in 1998.
Brazil have occupied the top spot for at least one month of every year from 1993 through to 2010 (with the exception of 2008 when their peak rank was second). Since then they have also spent time atop FIFA’s charts in 2017 and 2022 and overall have rarely found themselves too far outside the top two or three. However, seven other nations have done what Southgate hopes his side can and made it to number one. They are:
- Argentina
- Belgium
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Netherlands
- Spain
Belgium hit top spot following superb performances in qualifying and solid (though perhaps still disappointing) results at the major finals. They reached the pinnacle of international football first in 2015. They dropped off the top in 2016 but following a decent showing at Russia 2018 when they were third, they stayed as the number one side into 2022.
Netherlands are the only other side to have made it to number one without winning a major international tournament (since the rankings were introduced). They made it to second in 1993 and 1994 but hit top spot in 2011 after winning 15 of 17 games in 2010 and losing just once. They lost the 2010 World Cup final and this gives us an idea of what England will have to do if they are to achieve their manager’s aim.
Whilst topping the FIFA standings is possible without winning a tournament, or even making the final, most teams that do get to number one do lift silverware along the way. If the Three Lions can lift the Euros in Germany next year they will almost certainly become the world’s number one side, whilst making the final would also give them a great chance.
