USMNT drop big in latest FIFA rankings; Spain, Colombia rise

The latest FIFA men’s world rankings have been released following both the Copa America and European Championships and there are some notable ups and downs as the USMNT paid the price for a group stage exit this summer.

The managerless U.S. men’s side drop five places in the latest rankings from 11th to 16th. Gregg Berhalter was fired after the USMNT crashed out of the 2024 Copa America on home soil in the group stage as they lost to both Uruguay and Panama and beat Bolivia to pick up just three points.

It is the USMNT’s lowest ranking since October 2022, while their highest-ever ranking is 4th in April 2006.

Who made big moves, up and down?

Big climbers include Spain, who won EURO 2024 and moved up five places in the rankings to third. Argentina, who are the current World Cup and Copa America (back-to-back) champs remain in top spot. France remain in second and England move up one place to fourth after reaching back-to-back European Championship finals.

Brazil dropped one place to fifth, Belgium move down three places to sixth and the Netherlands sit steady in seventh after they reached the semifinals of EURO 2024. Portugal dropped two places to eighth and Colombia moved up three places to ninth as they were runners up at Copa America and impressed throughout. Italy remain steady in 10th place to round out the top 10, while Uruguay, Germany and Switzerland all climbed closer to the top 10 after impressive tournaments.

Some other notable climbs include Turkiye rising 16 places to 26th after they were minutes away from reaching the semifinals of EURO 2024. Venezuela rose 17th places to 37th after reaching the Copa America quarterfinals, while Canada moved up eight places to 40th after Jesse Marsch’s side unexpectedly reached the semifinals of Copa America.

Can the USMNT recover over the next two years?

The USMNT suffered the biggest fall of any team inside the top 40 of FIFA’s rankings and rightly so.

This summer was supposed to be when they kicked on and proved they could compete against the big boys. The opposite happened and now the USMNT are looking for a new head coach, direction and trying to rejuvenate the player pool less than two years before a World Cup on home soil.

Friendlies against Canada, New Zealand and Panama in September and October won’t move the needle and the next time the USMNT will really get to compete at a high level is in the summer of 2025 at the Gold Cup.

That is a long time for this young group to dwell on a disappointing summer with plenty of upheaval and changes set to come for the program.

Latest men’s FIFA world rankings, Top 25 – July 18, 2024

1. Argentina – Even
2. France – Even
3. Spain – Up 5
4. England – Up 1
5. Brazil – Down 1
6. Belgium – Down 3
7. Netherlands – Even
8. Portugal – Down 2
9. Colombia – Up 3
10. Italy
11. Uruguay – Up 3
12. Croatia – Down 3
13. Germany – Up 3
14. Morocco – Down 2
15. Switzerland – Up 5
16. USA – Down 5
17. Mexico – Down 2
18. Japan – Down 1
19. Senegal – Down 1
20. Iran – Even
21. Denmark – Even
22. Austria – Up 3
23. South Korea – Down 1
24. Australia – Down 1
25. Ukraine – Down 1