The U.S. men’s national team had a roller-coaster ride through CONCACAF regional World Cup qualifying, but ultimately qualified for the 2022 World Cup.
In the most recent men’s FIFA world rankings released on March 31 following the end-of-March international window, the United States fell two places to 15th in the world (down from 13th in February and 11th in January).
At the start of 2022 the USA was leapfrogged by CONCACAF rivals Mexico and El Tri has even broken into the Top 10. Meanwhile, after rising seven spots on the heels of sweeping the January matches, Canada dropped to No. 38 in the world.
The March FIFA World Rankings are used to determine seeds for the top teams in the draw on April 1. The top seeds will be included in Pot 1 consisting of the top seven teams in the world plus the host nation Qatar.
MORE: Final CONCACAF World Cup qualifying standings, schedule & results
The ranking for the United States leaves it locked in as a Pot 2 team in the World Cup draw, unable to rise far enough up the list to become a Pot 1 team or fall far enough to drop to a Pot 3 team.
Still, the 15th position is still more than respectable for the United States, which sits above 2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia.
The USA men’s national team was at one point looking to break into the top 10 of the FIFA World Rankings, but that is mathematically impossible and will be in Pot 2 of the 2022 World Cup draw on April 1.
The top names in the overall ranking remained relatively unchanged, as most of the top 10 is made up of European and South American powers. But there were two important changes.
Brazil is now the No. 1 team in the world, moving up a spot to overtake Belgium, which dropped to No. 2.
Mexico broke into the top 10, knocking out Denmark from that group, with a draw against the USA and wins against Honduras and El Salvador.
Germany (tied Netherlands 1-1), Croatia (tied Slovenia 1-1) and Sweden (2-0 playoff loss to Poland) are among the European teams that dropped after their March showings.
Below are the top 20 teams in the FIFA Men’s Rankings released March 31, 2022.
MORE: Which teams can still qualify for the 2022 World Cup
The biggest rise was seen by Cook Islands (Oceania), New Zealand (Oceania) and Costa Rica (North America). Cook Islands made the Oceania tournament semis, while New Zealand won the Oceania championship outright. Costa Rica continued to rack up results with three straight qualifying wins (vs. Canada, El Salvador and USA).
The team that fell the most was New Caledonia, but Australia‘s two losses in qualifying meant that it dropped from No. 37 to No. 42. They will hope to pick themselves back up ahead of two must-win, single-elimination World Cup playoff matchups against the United Arab Emirates and then Peru.