Historical Status for the Atlas Lions
FIFA, the international football federation, announced its first monthly world ranking for 2026, and the ranking included good news for African football, especially the Moroccan national team, which achieved a historic qualitative leap despite losing the African Cup of Nations final.
According to the FIFA ranking issued on January 19, 2026, the Moroccan national team rose to eighth place globally, advancing three places, which is the best ranking in the history of the “Atlas Lions” and Arab teams, breaking Egypt’s record “ninth globally in 20210”, and returning to the list of the top ten for the first time since April 1998, in an achievement that many considered a moral compensation after the bitterness of losing the final of the continental championship on its home soil to Senegal with a score of 0-1.
This progress is due to Morocco’s distinguished performance during the African Cup of Nations, in which it finished as runner-up, earning it 20.23 points at once, surpassing prestigious teams such as Belgium and Germany, and causing Croatia to exit the list of the top ten.
In contrast, the Senegalese national team continued to reap the rewards of its victory in the African Cup of Nations title, as it jumped to 12th place globally, recording the best ranking in its history, after rising 7 places at once, thus confirming its position as a major power on the African continent.
The ranking also witnessed a noticeable rise for other African teams, most notably Nigeria, which achieved the largest increase in points, while Spain maintained the lead, followed by Argentina and France.
On the Arab level, Algeria ranked second after Morocco “28th globally”, Egypt came in third place “31st globally”, Tunisia in fourth place “47th globally”, Qatar in fifth place “56th globally”, Iraq in sixth place “58th globally”, and Saudi Arabia in seventh place “61st globally”.
