Spain edge Argentina to clinch second World Cup title as England hit France for six in third-place thriller

Spain have been crowned world champions for the second time after a tense 1-0 victory over Argentina in the 2026 World Cup final, capping a historic tournament staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico with an expanded 48-team format.

The final, played on Sunday night and decided only after extra time, ended with Spain once again lifting football’s most coveted trophy, 16 years after their first triumph in 2010. Argentina, seeking to add another star to their badge after their 2022 success, were left runners-up.

World football’s governing body FIFA has since published the full ranking of all 48 participating teams, confirming Spain at the summit and Iraq at the bottom of the standings.

Historic 48-team World Cup across North America

The 2026 edition was the first World Cup to feature 48 national teams, an increase from the traditional 32, and the first to be jointly hosted by three countries: the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The expanded format delivered a packed schedule of matches and new names on the global stage, as well as several surprises in the knockout rounds. Traditional powerhouses such as Brazil, Germany and the Netherlands all failed to reach the semi-finals, while Morocco and Norway made deep runs.

Beyond the final itself, the play-off for third place produced one of the most eye-catching scorelines of the tournament. England beat France 6-4 in a dramatic, high-scoring encounter to secure the bronze medal position.

FIFA ranking criteria for all 48 teams

In its post-tournament report, FIFA set out how the final order of all 48 teams was calculated once the competition concluded.

Teams were first separated by the stage they reached – from champions down to those exiting in the early rounds. Sides eliminated in the same phase were then ranked using the following criteria applied across all their matches:

– Total number of points obtained (with games decided by penalty shoot-outs recorded statistically as draws)
– Goal difference from all matches
– Number of goals scored across all matches

If two or more teams remained level after applying these measures, they were allocated the same final position in the rankings.

FIFA also assessed teams’ performances in five specific areas – labelled as:

– Goalkeeping – goal protection
– Goalkeeping – possession
– Attack
– Playmaking
– Defence

These categories were used for performance analysis rather than to determine the official table.

Spain top, Argentina second, England third

The final FIFA ranking confirmed Spain as world champions, followed by Argentina in second place and England in third after their win over France, who finished fourth.

Further down the list, Norway were rewarded with fifth place, ahead of Belgium in sixth. Morocco continued their recent rise on the international stage, sharing seventh place with Switzerland.

The complete top 16 was as follows:

1. Spain
2. Argentina
3. England
4. France
5. Norway
6. Belgium
7. Morocco
7. Switzerland
9. Mexico
10. Colombia
11. Brazil
12. United States
13. Portugal
14. Canada
15. Egypt
16. Paraguay

The rankings then continued:

17. Netherlands
18. Germany
19. Ivory Coast
20. Croatia
21. Japan
22. Australia
23. DR Congo
24. Ghana
25. Ecuador
25. South Africa
27. Sweden
28. Austria
29. Bosnia and Herzegovina
30. Algeria
31. Senegal
32. Cape Verde
33. Iran
34. South Korea
35. Turkey
36. Scotland
37. Uruguay
38. Saudi Arabia
39. Czech Republic
40. New Zealand
41. Qatar
42. Curacao
43. Panama
44. Jordan
45. Haiti
46. Uzbekistan
47. Tunisia
48. Iraq

Legacy of a landmark tournament

Spain’s triumph and the breadth of nations involved underline how the 2026 World Cup has reshaped the global football landscape. With goals, shocks and new rivalries emerging across three host countries and 48 competing teams, FIFA will now turn its focus to refining the expanded format ahead of the next edition.