Morocco surge to 11th in FIFA rankings following World Cup heroics

Morocco climbed up to the 11th in the latest FIFA rankings, becoming the year's highest climbers having earned 142 points in the previous 12 months.

The Atlas Lions are on the verge of cracking the top ten after a scintillating performance at the Qatar World Cup, where they became the first African or Arab reached the semi-finals. 

World champions Argentina have climbed one place to second in the latest FIFA rankings behind arch-rivals Brazil after their World Cup triumph in Qatar. 

Argentina skipper Lionel Messi scored two goals and netted again in the shootout as he led his country to an emotional 4-2 win on penalties over France on Sunday, with the title clash ending 3-3 after 120 minutes of breathtaking action.

Latest FIFA rankings are out:
1. 🇧🇷 Brazil
2. 🇦🇷 Argentina
3. 🇫🇷 France
4. 🇧🇪 Belgium
5. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England
6. 🇳🇱 Netherlands
7. 🇭🇷 Croatia
8. 🇮🇹 Italy
9. 🇵🇹 Portugal
10. 🇪🇸 Spain

— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) December 22, 2022

A win in normal or extra time would have propelled Argentina to the top of the rankings but they sit second behind five-times world champions Brazil who now have a slender lead in points.

France rose to third with both of this year's World Cup finalists leapfrogging Belgium, who failed to reach the knockout stage.

Croatia, who defeated Morocco in the third-place playoffs and were the runners-up in Russia four years ago, are seventh behind England and the Netherlands. 

(Reuters)