FIFA officially announced the year-end ranking of the 2021 men's national team, with Belgium, Brazil and France ranking in the top three. For four consecutive years, Belgium has ranked first in the world at the end of the year.
In the round of 12, China vs Vietnam, Wu Lei celebrated the goal
The top 10 teams in the men's world rankings are Belgium, Brazil, France, England, Argentina, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and the Netherlands. With the exception of the South American duo of Brazil and Argentina, the remaining eight are European teams. The highest-ranked Asian and African team is Senegal, which ranks 20th in the world.
Twenty of the top 50 national teams come from Europe, accounting for half of the country, which also shows that Europe is still the center of world football; South America is second only to Europe, with 8 national teams entering the top 50. Further down are 7 in Africa, 5 in Asia, and 4 in North China, the United States and the Caribbean.
Wales, 16 November 2021, Wales, 10th Round of Group E, Europa Region 2022, Wales 1-1 Belgium
The highest-ranked team in Asia is Iran, ranked 21st in the world. The Chinese men's football team ranked 74th in the world and 8th in Asia in this period, and the world ranking and Asian ranking have not changed compared with the previous period. In addition to Iran, the seven teams ranked higher than the national football team are Japan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
In 2020, a total of 352 international football matches were played around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lowest since 1987. In 2021, with the launch of major events such as the European Championship and the World Cup qualifiers, this number has returned to 1116 games.