Newsletters
Türkiye's national soccer team fell to 31st in the FIFA world rankings after a disappointing World Cup campaign and four consecutive UEFA Nations League defeats put its place in League A at risk.
Coached by Vincenzo Montella, Türkiye earned 1,563 points in FIFA's October rankings, dropping nine places over three months. The decline was the second-steepest among national teams worldwide, behind Tunisia, which fell 13 places.
The slide followed a period of progress for Türkiye, which qualified directly for EURO 2024, returned to the World Cup after a 24-year absence and secured promotion to Nations League A.
Türkiye's World Cup campaign marked the beginning of its decline in the rankings. The team entered the tournament in 22nd place but lost 2-0 to Australia and 1-0 to Paraguay, becoming the second team eliminated after Haiti. It closed its campaign with a 3-2 victory over the United States.
Türkiye subsequently fell to 27th before dropping further to 31st in October.
Türkiye's struggles continued in Nations League A, where it lost all four of its opening matches. The team fell 1-0 to France, suffered 4-1 and 3-1 defeats to Italy, and lost 3-0 away to Belgium.
The results left Türkiye bottom of Group 1 without a point and with a goal difference of minus nine. Of the 16 teams in League A, only Serbia and Czechia also failed to earn points, raising further doubts about Türkiye's ability to remain in the competition's top tier.
Türkiye's opponents in Nations League A Group 1 retained their positions in the October rankings. France ranked third with 1,958 points, Belgium eighth with 1,779 and Italy 15th with 1,713.
Spain topped the global standings with 2,011 points, followed by Argentina with 1,972.
Meanwhile, Montella faced growing criticism after Türkiye's four consecutive Nations League defeats, with fans and Turkish media questioning his leadership and calling for his resignation. The coach defended his record by pointing to Türkiye's return to the World Cup after a 24-year absence and its promotion to Nations League A.
He argued that the recent setbacks did not erase the progress made under his leadership, while acknowledging that individual mistakes had proved costly against strong opponents and stressing the need to turn performances into results.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
2 min read
1 min read
