Sports
WORLD Cup winners, Argentina have returned to the top of the FIFA World Rankings for the first time in six years.
Lionel Scaloni’s side, who captured their third world title with a thrilling final win against France in Qatar in 2022, won friendlies against Panama and Curacao in the March international break.
Lionel Messi brought up two milestones in those fixtures, netting his 800th career goal in a 2-0 victory over Panama, before reaching 100 international goals as he scored a hat-trick in a 7-0 rout of Curacao.
Argentina last topped the rankings in 2017, but the Albiceleste dropped as low as 12th the following year after an underwhelming campaign at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Argentina replace rivals Brazil at the summit after the Selecao suffered a surprise friendly loss to World Cup semi-finalists, Morocco in March, a result which sees them drop to third.
France are second in the rankings after their Euro 2024 qualification wins over the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland, while the rest of the top 10 remains unchanged. (dpa/NAN)
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Tags: FIFA World Ranking Lionel Messi World Cup
