The French will be watching the friendly match between Egypt and Spain on Tuesday closely, hoping for a La Roja defeat that would give France the chance to top the FIFA world rankings.
Spain has held the top spot in the FIFA rankings since winning Euro 2024, but the opportunity is now ripe for the French to reclaim the lead, provided the Pharaohs manage to pull off an upset at Espanyol’s stadium.
The Spanish national team secured a valuable 3-0 victory over Serbia a few days ago, and it is expected that Luis de la Fuente will field a reserve team against Egypt, which could lead to a slip-up.
Spain leads the rankings by a narrow margin over France
The French national team has won two friendlies during the March 2026 international break, defeating Brazil 2-1 and then Colombia 3-1, in two matches played in the United States.
Thus, France moved into second place in the FIFA rankings, just 1.8 points behind leaders Spain.
The number of points in the rankings depends on several factors, including the importance of the match (a friendly is less significant than a match in a major tournament), the result, and the opponent’s level.
If Spain draws or loses against Egypt, they will lose their top spot in the world rankings, which FIFA is scheduled to announce next Wednesday, and France will then take the lead.
FIFA Rankings March 2026 So Far
1. Spain – 1879.12 points
2. France – 1877.32 points
3. Argentina – 1873.96 points (down 1 place)
4. England – 1832.62 points
5. Portugal – 1759.62 points (up 1 place)
6. Netherlands – 1759.42 points (up 1 place)
7. Brazil – 1756.49 points (down 2 places)
8. Morocco – 1753.07 points
9. Belgium – 1735.24 points
10. Germany – 1728.49 points
Egypt vs. Spain Friendly Match Without VAR
Mostafa Abu Zahra, a member of the Egyptian Football Association’s board of directors and head of the Egyptian national team’s delegation in Spain, confirmed that the Pharaohs’ match against Spain will be played without the use of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology.
Abu Zahra explained that the practice in Europe is to not use video technology in friendly matches, and both sides agreed to allow eight substitutions per team.
The Egyptian national team achieved a resounding 4-0 victory against Saudi Arabia in their first friendly match, played last Friday at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah.
Egypt without Salah, and Spain without several stars
It is worth noting that the Egyptian national team will face Spain without their star player, Mohamed Salah, who is suffering from a muscle injury sustained while playing for Liverpool against Brighton in the English Premier League two weeks ago.
In place of Salah, Haitham Hassan is expected to play on the right wing. The Tunisian-French-Egyptian player has decided to represent the Pharaohs and made a good appearance as a substitute in the match against Saudi Arabia. He is also familiar with Spanish football, currently playing for Real Oviedo and previously with Villarreal.
On the other hand, the Spanish national team has lost a number of its players due to injury, the latest being Martin Zubimendi, and it is expected that Lamine Yamal will not participate for a long time in the match against Egypt after Barcelona requested that the player be protected from fatigue and that he be satisfied with what he offered in the last match against Serbia.
