Portugal Overtake Brazil to Move into Fifth in FIFA Rankings

Brazil’s strong results during the first international window after the World Cup were not enough to prevent a drop in the latest FIFA rankings. A draw against Australia in their opening match proved costly, with Carlo Ancelotti’s side falling one place to sixth. Portugal, meanwhile, climbed two spots to fifth after winning all four of their matches during the window.

In the latest FIFA men’s world rankings released on Wednesday (October 7), the top four positions remained unchanged. World champions Spain retained the No. 1 spot, followed by Argentina, France and England.

Brazil’s decline was largely caused by their 1-1 draw against Australia in the opening match. The Selecao scored an equaliser in stoppage time to avoid defeat, but FIFA’s calculations show that the result cost Brazil 2.02 ranking points.

Brazil then responded with convincing wins over Australia and India, beating Australia 4-2 before defeating India 4-0. However, those victories were not enough to fully recover the points lost in the opening draw.

As a result, Brazil now sit sixth with 1,806.51 points.

Portugal, on the other hand, made the most of the international window. They won all four of their UEFA Nations League matches, defeating Wales 1-0, Norway 2-1 twice and Denmark 4-2.

The run of victories lifted Portugal two places to fifth with 1,807.69 points. Their advantage over Brazil is just 1.18 points.

Morocco also dropped one place after drawing 1-1 with Mali. Despite beating Gabon and Lesotho by identical 2-0 margins during the same international window, Morocco slipped from sixth to seventh with 1,805.34 points—just 1.17 behind Brazil.

There were no changes from eighth to 11th, with Belgium, the Netherlands, Mexico and Colombia occupying those positions respectively.

Switzerland climbed two places to 12th, while Germany and Croatia each dropped one spot to 13th and 14th respectively.

Portugal’s rise also came amid attention surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo. Reports had emerged about the veteran forward leaving the team camp following an alleged disagreement with the coach, but Portugal’s results remained unaffected. The team won all four matches and made significant progress in the FIFA rankings.

For Brazil, the opening draw against Australia ultimately proved decisive. Despite two emphatic victories afterward, Ancelotti’s side could not retain fifth place, while Portugal’s perfect run allowed them to move ahead of the five-time world champions.