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<p>Top 20 Rankings</p>
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<img alt="Norway 13th, Mexico third - The best performing nations of 2025 (so far)"
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title="Norway 13th, Mexico third - The best performing nations of 2025 (so far)">
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<p dir="ltr">In contrast to the organized and streamlined structure of club football, international football can often appear chaotic. Various federations hold their own competitions, qualifying tournaments, and adhere to different rules. The pathways for a European team to reach the World Cup differ significantly from those of African or South American teams. Between World Cup cycles, a range of continental tournaments take place, each varying in significance and impact.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">As a result, it can be challenging to evaluate how nations compare against each other outside their specific qualifying groups or knockout tournaments. For example, how do the performances of England and Mexico stack up throughout 2025? Thankfully, <em>Transfermarkt</em> has compiled all competitive matches played in 2025, creating a definitive ranking of the best-performing nations this year. Some of the top-ranked countries may surprise many football enthusiasts.</p>
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<img alt="Top 20 nations of 2025" height="629"
src="https://tmssl.akamaized.net//images/foto/newsansicht/top-20-nations-of-2025-1757519241-177234.png?lm=1757519250"
title="Top 20 nations of 2025"
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<p dir="ltr">Currently, Morocco stands out as the top-performing nation, having accumulated the most competitive wins this year, defined as “points” in traditional terms. Under Walid Regragui's management, Morocco has triumphed in all four of their World Cup qualifying matches, as well as all but one match in the African Nations Championship. This impressive performance places them at the top of the leaderboard, five points ahead of second-placed Honduras, who reached the Gold Cup semi-finals and have started their World Cup qualifying campaign strong with three wins and one draw in four matches.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">In third place is Mexico, which has secured victories in the Concacaf Nations League final against both Canada and Panama, and went through the Gold Cup unbeaten, clinching the title by defeating the United States 2-1 in the final. They share third place with the surprising African team Madagascar, which not only reached the semi-finals of the African Nations Championship but also won three out of four World Cup qualifying games, sitting second in Group I behind Ghana.</p>
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<img alt="Unbeaten nations 2025" height="629"
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title="Unbeaten nations 2025"
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<p dir="ltr">Among the prominent European teams, notable mentions include England and Norway, both sitting in a tie for thirteenth place after winning all five of their competitive matches in 2025. Portugal and Croatia, who have played one additional game, are also tied with them, each earning 15 points this year. With at least two more international breaks scheduled before year-end, it will be intriguing to see which nation might lead the table when December 31 arrives.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">Although England may not rank highly based on total points, they lead the chart for unbeaten nations in 2025. As of now, Thomas Tuchel's team is among only 11 nations that have yet to lose a competitive fixture this year. However, most of these teams have played fewer matches, with Norway being the only nation matched with the same number of games as the Three Lions.</p>
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