Among the region’s teams, Egypt rose among the rankings more than anyone else, going up by seven places [Getty/file photo]
Every FIFA World Cup reshapes the men’s world rankings, with performances in the tournament carrying significant weight under FIFA’s points-based rating system.
For teams from the Middle East and North Africa, the 2026 World Cup produced mixed fortunes. Morocco and Egypt climbed after historic campaigns, while several others slipped following disappointing exits.
The New Arab looks at who rose, who fell, and why.
How do the FIFA rankings work?
The FIFA Men’s World Ranking uses an Elo-style rating system introduced in 2018, with teams gaining or losing points after every international match.
Rather than awarding fixed points for victories, the system takes into account the strength of the opposition and the importance of the fixture. Beating a higher-ranked team in a World Cup match therefore carries far greater weight than defeating a lower-ranked side in a friendly.
Who has gone up?
Morocco (+1 to 6th)
Morocco’s Atlas Lions enjoyed the strongest campaign among the region’s teams this year, reaching the quarterfinals and climbing from seventh to sixth in the FIFA rankings.
The squad, boasting stars such as Achraf Hakimi and Brahim Diaz, won two matches and drew one in the group stage, finishing second in Group C behind Brazil on goal difference, and ahead of Scotland and Haiti.
Morocco defeated the Netherlands on penalties in the Round of 32 before beating Canada 3-0 to reach the quarterfinals. A 2-0 defeat to France ended their campaign, but the Atlas Lions nevertheless became the first African side to reach back-to-back World Cup quarterfinals after reaching the semifinals in Qatar four years ago.
Egypt (+5 to 24th)
Egypt are the region’s other success story, climbing five places to 24th after exceeding expectations with their best-ever World Cup campaign.
The Pharaohs finished second in Group G behind Belgium, securing automatic qualification for the knockout stage for the first time in their history.
A Round of 32 victory over Australia sent Egypt into the last 16, where they faced Argentina. The Pharaohs led for much of the match and looked set to pull off a famous victory, before conceding a late equaliser and then a dramatic winner in the 93rd minute, breaking Egyptian hearts.
Saudi Arabia (+3 to 58th)
Saudi Arabia collected two points from draws against Uruguay and Cape Verde in Group H, helping them climb three places in the FIFA rankings.
However, the Green Falcons also suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat to eventual world champions Spain, ending their hopes of progressing.
While Saudi Arabia have now appeared at seven World Cups, they have yet to replicate their run to the Round of 16 in 1994.
Who has gone down?
Iran (-2 to 22nd)
Iran’s World Cup campaign was marred by US-imposed restrictions, visa denials and a hostile environment amid the US-Israel war on the country, which impacted the team’s training, recovery and performances.
Iran entered the tournament ranked 20th in the world, but three draws against Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand saw them slip two places to 22nd.
The team finished third in Group G, leaving them with a chance of progressing as one of the eight best third-placed teams. However, results elsewhere failed to go in their favour, ending their World Cup campaign following what has been described as a “disgraceful” handling of the tournament.
Turkey (-5 to 27th)
Turkey entered the tournament as one of its “dark horses”, boasting arguably their most talented squad in years following an impressive Euro 2024 campaign.
However, a surprisingly lacklustre World Cup, with their only victory coming against the United States after they had already been eliminated, saw them fall five places to 27th in the rankings.
Turkey failed to get past an impressive Australia, who beat them 2-0, and a resolute Paraguay side, who defeated them 1-0.
The team registered 32 shots without scoring against Paraguay, the most attempts in a single World Cup match without finding the net.
Combined with their defeat to Australia, Turkey also set the tournament record for the most shots without a goal across two consecutive World Cup matches, with 62 attempts.
Algeria (-1 to 29th)
Despite reaching the knockout stage, Algeria slipped one place to 29th in the FIFA rankings.
The Fennec Foxes beat Jordan, drew with Austria and lost to Argentina during the group stage before being eliminated 2-0 by eventual quarterfinalists Switzerland in the Round of 32.
A number of defensive errors, coupled with an inability to create chances, ultimately proved costly.
Tunisia (-12 to 57th)
Tunisia suffered the biggest rankings drop of any team at the tournament, falling 12 places to 57th after one of the most disappointing campaigns at this year’s World Cup.
Drawn alongside the Netherlands, Japan and Sweden, the Eagles of Carthage conceded 12 goals and scored just twice.
Their poor performances prompted the Tunisian Football Federation to sack coach Sabri Lamouchi following a 5-1 defeat to Sweden.
It marked the first time a manager had been dismissed during a FIFA World Cup since the 1998 tournament, when Tunisia also parted ways with Henryk Kasperczak after defeats to England and Colombia.
Qatar (-3 to 59th)
Qatar slipped three places from their pre-tournament ranking of 56th to 59th.
The hosts of the previous World Cup endured one of the region’s weakest campaigns, conceding 10 goals despite opening the tournament with a promising 1-1 draw against Switzerland.
A 6-0 thrashing by Canada, followed by a 3-1 defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina, ended any hopes of progressing and contributed to their drop in the rankings.
Iraq (-6 to 63rd)
Iraq, who returned to the World Cup for the first time in four decades, fell six places following a difficult campaign and are now ranked 63rd.
The Lions of Mesopotamia were drawn alongside France, an Erling Haaland-led Norway, and African giants Senegal in Group I, in what was widely dubbed the “group of death”.
Iraq suffered defeats in all three matches, conceding 12 goals, although Aymen Hussein’s excellent header against Norway provided a brief moment of joy for supporters.
Jordan (-10 to 73rd)
World Cup debutants Jordan dropped 10 places to 73rd after a difficult first appearance at the tournament.
The Nashama were drawn in a challenging group alongside Argentina, Algeria and Austria, and lost all three matches while conceding eight goals.
Jordan did manage to score against both Algeria and Argentina before bowing out of their maiden World Cup campaign.
