GENEVA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Spain climbed to the top of the latest FIFA Men's World Ranking on Thursday for the first time in 11 years, ending Argentina's two-year reign.

The world champions slipped to third, behind France, after a 1-0 loss to Ecuador in CONMEBOL qualifying for the 2026 World Cup on Sept. 9. Argentina had already secured their World Cup berth in March and clinched top spot in the qualifying standings before their final-round defeat.

Spain began their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 3-0 win over Bulgaria before sweeping Turkiye 6-0 away. The last time Spain topped the rankings was in June 2014, when they were both world and European champions.

France also enjoyed a strong start to UEFA qualifying, defeating Ukraine 2-0 and Iceland 2-1.

England stayed fourth, while Portugal overtook Brazil to move into fifth. Brazil, the Netherlands and Belgium occupied sixth to eighth, with Croatia and Italy completing the top 10 at ninth and 10th, pushing Germany down to 12th.

Slovakia made the biggest leap, rising 10 places to 42nd after their 2-0 home win over Germany. ■