Argentina leapfrog Belgium to top FIFA Rankings, India drop down to 162
After the recent matches during the international break in March, the FIFA rankings for the month of April saw a new table topper as Argentina moved ahead of Belgium to reclaim top spot. La Albiceleste, who were runners-up at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2015 Copa America, had won both their games in the South American World Cup qualifiers.
The side led by Lionel Messi first beat Chile 2-1 away before beating Bolivia at home. Belgium, on the other hand, lost to Portugal with Cristiano Ronaldo netting what was the decisive goal in a 2-1 victory for the Iberian side. This is the first time since November that Belgium have lost top spot after taking it from the South American side in November 2015.
According to FIFA, 171 games were played across the world (51 World Cup qualifiers, 60 continental qualifiers and 60 friendly matches) before the rankings for April were calculated. In spite of the loss to Argentina, Chile moved up to two positions to third (their best ever ranking) thanks to a 4-1 away win over Venezuela. Colombia also moved up four positions to fourth after two wins over Bolivia and Ecuador.
Uruguay, who welcomed Luis Suarez back to the side after serving his international ban, drew with Brazil and beat Peru to move up two places and into the top 10. On the other hand, Brazil dropped a spot to seventh after two draws. The top 10 sees an even split with five South American sides and five European teams.
2014 world champions Germany dropped further down to fifth spot while Spain fell three places to sixth in the rankings. England also fell one spot to 10th after a win over Germany and a loss to Netherlands at home.
Meanwhile, India lost their last two World Cup qualifiers to Iran and Turkmenistan to drop down to 162.
| Rank | Team | Total Points | Previous Points | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Argentina | 1532 | 1457 | 1 |
| 2 | Belgium | 1352 | 1506 | -1 |
| 3 | Chile | 1348 | 1307 | 2 |
| 4 | Colombia | 1337 | 1215 | 4 |
| 5 | Germany | 1309 | 1355 | -1 |
| 6 | Spain | 1277 | 1374 | -3 |
| 7 | Brazil | 1251 | 1254 | -1 |
| 8 | Portugal | 1184 | 1234 | -1 |
| 9 | Uruguay | 1158 | 1082 | 2 |
| 10 | England | 1069 | 1112 | -1 |
| 11 | Austria | 1067 | 1095 | -1 |
| 12 | Ecuador | 1019 | 1039 | 1 |
| 13 | Turkey | 983 | 943 | 7 |
| 14 | Switzerland | 974 | 1070 | -2 |
| 15 | Italy | 959 | 999 | -1 |
| 16 | Mexico | 934 | 902 | 6 |
| 17 | Netherlands | 931 | 997 | -2 |
| 18 | Hungary | 925 | 951 | 1 |
| 19 | Romania | 922 | 990 | -3 |
| 20 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 913 | 917 | 1 |