Ali Krieger explains the reasons behind the USWNT’s Olympic success under head coach Emma Hayes. (1:01)
The United States women’s national team (USWNT) have reclaimed their crown at the top of FIFA’s women’s world rankings following victory at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The USWNT experienced a sharp decline in June when the rankings were last released. They slipped from third to fifth, their lowest place since the rankings were introduced.
It has been 12 months since the four-time World Cup winners were at the top of the rankings.
Under the charge of new head coach Emma Hayes, who has only been in post for 12 weeks, the USWNT has reclaimed their top spot after defeating Brazil in the Olympic final 1-0. This was the team’s fifth gold and seventh Olympic medal overall.
Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses have also changed position, now sitting second overtaking World Champions Spain, who have fallen to third following their semifinal exit during the Olympics after a 2-0 loss to Brazil.
The top two ranked teams will go head-to-head in a friendly at Wembley Stadium on Nov. 30 in a repeat of the game that ended 2-1 to the hosts in 2022.
The USWNT facing the Lionesses will be the first time Hayes will return to England as a national team manager following her departure from Women’s Super League (WSL) champions Chelsea.
The match will be a clash of two of the best managers in women’s football after Wiegman narrowly beat Hayes to the FIFA Best Women’s Coach in 2023.
Meanwhile, France who were in second in the most recent count have fallen eight places, now residing in 10th. This comes after France topped Group A3 of the 2025 Euros qualifiers ahead of England, Sweden and Republic of Ireland, but failed to make it past the quarterfinal of the Olympic tournament.
Despite boasting a strong squad, the nation are yet to win a major piece of silverware and are now without head coach Hervé Renard who announced his departure following the premature Olympics exit.