XMATCH confusion

[kweaver]

I have read in multiple places including MS site that XMATCH does not require sorting.
If that's the case, why are these two examples different?

exceljet index and match.xlsx
	M	N	O	P
1		11000	11000
2	11882	2	3	11882
3	11676			11841
4	10292			11676
5	4752			10699
6	10699			10404
7	10404			10292
8	11841			6364
9	5259			5259
10	6364			4752
SalesReps

Cell Formulas
Range	Formula
N2	N2	=XMATCH(N1,M2:M10,1)
O2	O2	=XMATCH(O1,P2:P10,1)
P2:P10	P2	=SORT(M2:M10,,-1)
Dynamic array formulas.

 

[Fluff]

Because 11676 is the next highest number & it's in the 2nd row of M2:M10 but the 3rd row of P2:P10