Morocco’s national team has received a timely boost after the pain of losing the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final on home soil, thanks to a historic leap in the January 2026 FIFA world rankings.
Despite falling 1–0 to Senegal in Rabat, the Atlas Lions have achieved an unprecedented global standing that eases some of the disappointment.
In the first FIFA ranking of 2026, released on 19 January, Morocco climbed three places to 8th in the world, the highest position in the country’s history. This new mark breaks Egypt’s previous record of 9th place in 2010 and returns Morocco to the top 10 for the first time since April 1998. Many observers see this as a moral reward for a team that reached another AFCON final and continues to build on its 2022 World Cup breakthrough.
Morocco’s run to the AFCON 2025 final earned the team 20.23 ranking points, enough to overtake traditional powers such as Belgium and Germany and to push Croatia out of the top 10. Senegal also reaped the benefits of their second continental crown, jumping seven spots to a best-ever 12th place, underlining their status as Africa’s leading force.
The new table brought significant gains for other African sides, with Nigeria registering one of the biggest points increases after finishing third at AFCON.
At the top, Spain stayed 1st ahead of Argentina and France, while in the Arab world Morocco lead the way, followed by Algeria (28th), Egypt (31st), Tunisia (47th), Qatar (56th), Iraq (58th) and Saudi Arabia (61st).
