France drops to third in FIFA rankings after loss to Ivory Coast

France is no longer the top-ranked nation in the FIFA rankings. Beaten 1-2 by Ivory Coast at Stade de la Beaujoire in a 2026 World Cup warm-up match, Didier Deschamps’ side lost 7.89 points and slipped from first to third place globally.

The Blues, who had held top spot since April 1 with 1,877 points, now have a total of 1,869.43 points. They are overtaken by Argentina, which reclaims the lead with 1,874.81 points, and Spain, credited with 1,873.01 points despite a 1-1 draw against Iraq on the same evening.

This demotion comes at a particularly sensitive moment: France enters the competition in eleven days, and the defeat to the Elephants is bound to sting the players before the tournament.

For the superstitious, however, this slip in the rankings could prove to be good news. No team has ever won a World Cup while arriving at the top of the FIFA rankings at the start of the competition. The 2022 example is often cited: at the October 6 update that year, Brazil held first place with 1,841.30 points, while Argentina, the eventual world champions, was only third with 1,773.88 points.

France therefore enters the 2026 World Cup with the status of third-ranked nation — a position which, historically, has never been synonymous with failure.