The January 2026 FIFA Men’s World Rankings have been significantly shaped by the conclusion of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, with several African teams making notable gains and triggering a reshuffle among CONCACAF’s top sides.

Senegal emerged as the biggest climber in the latest rankings, surging seven places to 12th overall following an impressive AFCON campaign. Their rise had a direct impact on the United States and Mexico, who both slipped down the table to 15th and 16th respectively, representing a setback for two of CONCACAF’s traditional powerhouses.

Canada were also affected by the AFCON-driven changes. Jesse Marsch’s side dropped two places after Nigeria climbed to 26th and Algeria moved up two spots to 28th, pushing the Canadians down to 29th in the global standings.

At the summit of the rankings, Spain and Argentina retained their positions at the top, underlining their continued dominance on the international stage.

Looking ahead, the United States will not return to competitive action until March, with no fixtures scheduled before their international friendly matches against Belgium and Portugal later in the month.

Mexico, meanwhile, have lined up a busy preparation schedule under head coach Javier Aguirre. El Tri are set to face Panama on Thursday, travel to Bolivia on Sunday, and then host Iceland in Querétaro on February 25, as Aguirre fine-tunes his squad ahead of announcing his World Cup selections.