'Two consecutive wins in friendlies' — South Korea remains 25th in FIFA ranking; Mexico and Czech Republic, in the same group, rise together

*This content was translated by AI.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America just three days away, South Korea's real-time FIFA ranking remains unchanged at 25th, the same as in April.

According to the real-time FIFA ranking released by FIFA on the 8th, South Korea recorded 1,591.63 points, an increase of 2.97 points from April, but saw no change in its ranking position.

While FIFA had previously released rankings only at the time of official announcements, it has recently begun publishing real-time rankings that reflect points earned from each match result.

Despite securing two consecutive victories in friendlies by defeating Trinidad and Tobago 5-0 and El Salvador 1-0, South Korea failed to improve its ranking.

FIFA ranking points are calculated based on the rankings (points) of the two teams involved in a match. Since Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador were ranked 102nd and 100th respectively at the time of their matches, the points gained were limited.

As a result, despite a decisive victory over Trinidad and Tobago, South Korea gained only 0.99 points in the FIFA ranking, and the win against El Salvador added just 1.98 points. Consequently, South Korea is likely to enter the World Cup stage maintaining its 25th position without any change in ranking.

In the same World Cup group stage Group A as South Korea, Mexico rose one position from 15th to 14th. Mexico recently secured three consecutive wins against Ghana, Australia, and Serbia, swapping positions with Senegal.

Czech Republic, which was ranked 41st in April, is expected to face South Korea after climbing two spots to 39th. Czech Republic recently defeated Kosovo 2-1 and Guatemala 3-1, entering the top 30 rankings.

South Africa, considered the weakest team in the group, maintained its 60th position. South Africa lost 1.35 points after drawing with Nikara, ranked 131st in the FIFA rankings. The recent 1-1 draw against Jamaica was not counted as an official A-match.

As of the 8th, the Asian rankings remained unchanged: Japan (18th), Iran (21st), South Korea (25th), Australia (27th), and Uzbekistan (50th). Iraq moved up to 56th, becoming the sixth-ranked Asian team, while Qatar dropped to 57th, reversing their positions. The top 10 in Asia were completed by Saudi Arabia (61st), Jordan (63rd), and the United Arab Emirates (UAE, 68th).

Argentina has newly claimed the top spot in the overall real-time FIFA rankings. Following Argentina are Spain, France, England, and Portugal in that order.

Argentina, which was ranked third as of April, gained only 1.3 points with a recent win against Honduras. However, France, previously ranked first, lost 7.89 points after a defeat against Côte d'Ivoire, dropping to third. Meanwhile, second-ranked Spain lost 3.38 points following a 1-1 draw against Iraq, allowing Argentina to rise to the new number one position just before the World Cup.

Under the leadership of coach Hong Myung-bo, South Korea will face Czech Republic on the 12th at 11 a.m., Mexico on the 19th at 10 a.m. (both in Guadalajara, Mexico), and South Africa on the 25th at 10 a.m. (in Monterrey, Mexico) in Group A matches.

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*This content was translated by AI.