Zlatan Ibrahimovic appears to be having the best of time trolling Alexi Lalas at the FIFA World Cup as part of For Sports’ analysis team. And well, considering the latest Power Rankings that Lalas came up with, that is likely to continue as we enter the thick of the group stages.
Five-time World Cup champions Brazil, who drew 1-1 against Morocco in their first game, were ejected from the top-10, with Argentina propelling themselves up to No. 1 after Lionel Messi’s first World Cup hat-trick against Algeria in Game 1, per a post on X by Fox Sports.
@AlexiLalas’ latest FIFA World Cup Power Rankings are here pic.twitter.com/A8XSenrmPs
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 17, 2026
“Argentina, we saw what they did last night with Messi. We were talking about it. Boom, right up to No. 1. USA, hanging in there in Top- 10 after that historic win, what a lot of people will say is the best performance of the US team in the World Cup in the group stage, so they are coming in at 9,” he explained.
Ibrahimovic, who was already mocking Lalas even before he listed out his rankings, even asked about his country, Sweden, who won 5-1 against Tunisia in the first game. Lalas, however, was not having it.
“Reminder, Netherlands, Croatia, Norway, Mexico and as you mentioned Brazil, are not even in the top-10, but things have changed,” he said.
Of course, the rankings need to be taken with a huge pinch of salt. The World Cup is a long tournament, and Brazil’s 1-1 draw does not mean they are not among the top contenders. Argentina, who are now No. 1 over France, were helped by the Algerian defense, and more importantly, lost their first game at the 2022 World Cup before winning the rest of their games.
Croatia went all the way to the semis last time around and were the finalists before that edition of the World Cup, while the Netherlands and Norway, especially the latter, both have world-class talent that may automatically mean they have a better chance of winning the whole thing than the USA, who come in at No. 9.
The Netherlands and Norway, boasting of Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard, also arguably deserve a place over the likes of Colombia or Japan. Further, a number of fans may also have questions about the placement of Spain, England, Portugal, Germany and Morocco, who come in at Nos. 3-7.
Regardless, the biggest sore point might simply be the exclusion of Brazil, who have one of the deepest attacks in the tournament with Neymar waiting in the wings and no shortage of world-class talent in other positions as well.
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