France Reclaim World No. 1 As Bafana Prepare For “Azteca” World Cup Opener
Bafana Bafana remain 60th in the latest FIFA World Rankings despite a 2-1 friendly loss to Panama.
Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with the North American side at Moses Mabhida Stadium last Friday, before suffering a 2-1 defeat at DHL Stadium on Tuesday.
The loss has had little impact on Hugo Broos’s men, who recently reached the Round of 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco and also secured qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in October.
Those results were already factored into the rankings, which explains why Bafana neither moved up nor dropped down.
Broos said that following these matches, the team will look to face opponents from Asia or Europe in June. This is in preparation for the World Cup, where they will meet Czechia and South Korea in Group A, before opening their campaign on 11 June at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.
Meanwhile, France, runners-up at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, have climbed to the top of the FIFA World Rankings for the first time since September 2018.
Spain, the reigning European champions, and Argentina, the current world champions, have dropped to second and third place, respectively.
This marks the first period in which the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking has been updated in real time during national team matches, resulting in several changes to the standings.
A total of 166 men’s international matches have been played since the last update, including decisive encounters in the race for the final qualification spots for the 2026 World Cup.
France (1st, up two places) now lead the rankings after securing two wins in their most recent friendlies, returning to the summit for the first time since September 2018.
They have overtaken Spain (2nd, down one) and Argentina (3rd, down one), with very little separating the three sides.
Spain’s attempt to retain top spot—held since September 2025—was hindered by a draw against Egypt (29th, up two) on Tuesday, 31 March.
The next FIFA World Rankings will be released on 10 June.
