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It is now official that Italy have plunged to 12th place in the FIFA World Ranking, their worst position since 2020, and could affect their status in the 2026 World Cup draw too.
The calculations had already looked bad for the Nazionale and their 4-1 home defeat to Norway sent them plummeting down three places from October’s tally.
They fell out of the top 10 and are now in 12th position, behind Morocco and Croatia, in the updated FIFA release.
Not only is this their worst placement since hitting 13th in 2020, it can also affect their progress if they get through the play-offs and qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Under the current rules, the Nazionale would not be top seeds for the draw for the final tournament group stage, which is planned for December 5.
They’d be in Pot 4 along with the others going through the UEFA play-offs and could therefore face a tougher draw in the competition.
As the play-offs won’t be until March 2026, obviously the draw will include stopgaps for the teams who qualify via this route.
There had been reports that FIFA could reshuffle the parameters for the draw to favour those teams in the play-offs with a higher ranking, but if Italy are out of the top 10, it might not affect them anyway.
FIFA have not yet formally confirmed the seeding parameters for the draw, so it is all just speculation at this stage.
They will discover their opponents in the play-off semi-final and potential final games in the draw on Thursday, November 20.
FIFA World Ranking November 2025
FIFA World Cup
