FIFA: USWNT back at No. 1 after Olympic gold
The United States women’s national team has reclaimed the crown at the top of FIFA’s women’s world rankings following its gold medal win at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The USWNT experienced a sharp decline in June when the rankings were last released, slipping from third to fifth, the team’s lowest place since the rankings were introduced.
It has been 12 months since the four-time World Cup winners were at the top of the rankings.
Under the charge of new head coach Emma Hayes, who has been in post only for 12 weeks, the USWNT has reclaimed their top spot after defeating Brazil in the Olympic final 1-0. This was the team’s fifth gold and seventh Olympic medal overall.
Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses have also changed position, now sitting second after overtaking world champions Spain, which has fallen to third following its semifinal exit during the Olympics after a 2-0 loss to Brazil.
The top two ranked teams will go head-to-head in a friendly at Wembley Stadium on Nov. 30 in a repeat of the game that ended 2-1 to the hosts in 2022.
The USWNT facing the Lionesses will be the first time Hayes will return to England as a national team manager following her departure from Women’s Super League (WSL) champions Chelsea.
The match will be a clash of two of the best managers in women’s football after Wiegman narrowly beat Hayes to the FIFA Best Women’s Coach in 2023.
Meanwhile, France, that was in second in the most recent count, has fallen eight places, now residing in 10th. This comes after France topped Group A3 of the 2025 Euros qualifiers ahead of England, Sweden and Republic of Ireland, but failed to make it past the quarterfinal of the Olympic tournament.
Despite boasting a strong squad, France is yet to win a major piece of silverware and is now without head coach Hervé Renard who announced his departure following the premature Olympics exit.
