The current world title holder arrives at the 2026 World Cup carrying a double challenge in her path. In addition to the objective of keeping the trophy raised in Qatar, the team led by Lionel Messi will need to overcome an uncomfortable historical record: never has a team that started the tournament at the top of the FIFA rankings finished the competition as champions.
The change in the top position in world football took place in recent days, motivated by France’s 2-1 defeat against Ivory Coast in a friendly clash held in the city of Nantes. The loss of the French cost them the highest position on the international list, putting Argentina back at the top of the FIFA table, followed closely by Spain in second place and with France falling to third place.
The statistical survey was highlighted by the Spanish newspaper AS, which labeled the performance record as a true “curse” in the World Cup editions. The count began to take effect after the official creation of the FIFA ranking, established in August 1993, and since then no leader at the turn of the cycle has managed to confirm their favoritism with the cup.
Negative retrospect for the leaders began in the United States edition in 1994
The fate of the first placed teams began precisely in the 1994 tournament. At that time, Germany was at the top of the FIFA table, but watched Brazil celebrate winning its fourth world championship. In the following event, in 1998, the Brazilian team started the competition in France as the best team in the world, but ended up defeated in the final by the home team.
In the 2002 edition, the French boasted first place in the FIFA rankings, but said goodbye to the tournament in the first phase, paving the way for Brazil’s fifth championship. In 2006 and 2010, the Brazilian team was again at the top before the start of the matches, but the titles in those editions were lifted by Italy and Spain, respectively.
The scenario was repeated in 2014, when the Spanish arrived in Brazil as leaders and suffered an early elimination in the group stage, with Germany finishing as champions. Four years later, in 2018, the Germans held the highest position before the tournament in Russia, but they also fell early, leaving room for the French title.
The most recent demonstration of this writing took place on the lawns of Qatar. The Brazilian team started the 2022 competition at the top of FIFA, but ended up eliminated in the quarter-finals in a clash with Croatia, resulting in Argentina’s final title in a penalty shootout against the French.
See the history of the first placed and the winners of each edition
- 1994: Germany (champion: Brazil)
- 1998: Brazil (champion: France)
- 2002: France (champion: Brazil)
- 2006: Brazil (champion: Italy)
- 2010: Brazil (champion: Spain)
- 2014: Spain (champion: Germany)
- 2018: Germany (champion: France)
- 2022: Brazil (champion: Argentina)
Argentina’s consolidation in first place overall came late in this cycle. In March, France had taken the lead after triumphing in matches against Brazil and Colombia, also taking advantage of a negative result from Spain, but the stumble against their African rival caused a reversal of positions in the days leading up to the World Cup.