GENEVA, April 1. /TASS/. Russia remained in 36th place in the latest FIFA World Rankings, according to the list published by the world’s governing body of football on Wednesday.

Team Russia played two friendly matches on its home soil last month - on March 27 against Nicaragua (3-1) and March 31 against Mali (0-0). The team racked up 1,525.60 points for its 36th place ranking.

The Top-10 football nations according to the FIFA World Ranking are as follows: 1st France (1,887.32 points); 2nd Spain (1,876.40); 3rd Argentina (1,874.81); 4th England (1,825.97); 5th Portugal (1,763.83); 6th Brazil (1,761.16); 7th the Netherlands (1,757.87); 8th Morocco (1,755.87); 9th Belgium (1,734.71) and 10th Germany (1,730.37).

"France (1st, up 2) now lead the way. Two wins in their most recent friendlies have seen Les Bleus surge back to the summit for the first time since September 2018. They have leapfrogged Spain (2nd, down 1) and World champions Argentina (3rd, down 1) in the process, with virtually nothing to choose between the three," FIFA’s press office said in a statement.

"Other notable movers include Portugal (5th, up 1), who have swapped places with Brazil (6th, down 1) after taking a win and a draw from their recent friendlies and capitalizing on a slip-up from the Selecao against France. The remainder of the top 10 is unchanged," the statement added.

The next edition of the FIFA World Rankings will be published on June 10, 2026.

Russia’s football ban

The world’s governing football body, FIFA, announced on February 28, 2022, that the Russian national team and all professional clubs representing the country were barred from participating in FIFA tournaments.

In turn, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made a similar decision regarding the Russian national football team’s participation in UEFA tournaments.

Both FIFA and UEFA cited Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as grounds for their respective bans on Russian teams’ participation in competitions.