FIFA RANKING
Brazil extend lead in world rankings, Spain drop below Italy
In the last change to the FIFA World Rankings before the World Cup starts next month, Brazil increased their lead at the top and Spain dropped below Italy.
Brazil, the only team to have competed in every World Cup finals, will go into next month’s tournament in Qatar seeking a record-extending sixth crown.
They will do so with a bigger lead at the top of the rankings after friendly wins over Ghana and Tunisia widened the gap on second-placed Belgium who lost to the Netherlands in the Nations League.
Brazil’s great rivals Argentina remained third, with world champions France fourth and Euro 2020 runners-up England fifth.
There was good news for Italy, who failed to qualify for the World Cup finals again, as they climbed above Spain into sixth place.
Other World Cup-bound teams climbing the rankings were Croatia, up three places to 12th, Iran up two spots to 20th and Serbia who rose to 21st.
-Reuters
Zimbabwe has taken a five step up in the FIFA ranking just released this Thursday. The Zimbabwe Warriors are now 116th in the world ranking among the teams that got astronomical rise in the current ranking.
The 90th minute scored against Nigeria in World Cup qualifiers that ended 1-1 contributed to the rise.
Meanwhile, Nigeria also rose a step to the 43rd position from that of December 2024. They are 6th in Africa. Have they beaten Zimbabwe, their ranking could have been better.
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Although currently 36th in the world, Nigeria’s women’s football team, Super Falcons remains the highest ranked in Africa. This is the sequel of the current ranking released on Friday by FIFA.
This is however a far cry from their best-ever ranking of 23rd obtained in June 2004 and March 2005.
On their current ranking, they are followed in Africa by South Africa 53rd, Morocco 61st, Zambia 62nd, Ghana 66th, Cameroon 68th and Cote d’Ivoire 71st.
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The Algerian national team has capitalised on Nigeria’s struggles for form and consistency. Algeria has risen to 4th place in Africa, overtaking Nigeria, which endured a dismal international break.
The Super Eagles drew 1-1 with Benin and suffered a 2-1 defeat against Rwanda, resulting in a significant loss of 21.06 points.
This drop saw Nigeria plummet from 36th to 44th in the global rankings, sliding into 5th place in Africa.
Meanwhile, Algeria avoided a similar fate by securing a 5-1 win against Liberia and a goalless draw with Equatorial Guinea, maintaining their 36th spot globally despite a slight points reduction.
The Fennecs have now solidified their place among Africa’s elite.
African Top 20 FIFA Rankings
1- Morocco (14th)
2- Senegal (17th)
3- Egypt (33rd)
4- Algeria (37th)
5- Nigeria (44th)
6- Ivory Coast (46th)
7- Cameroon (49th)
9- Mali (51st)
10- Tunisia (52nd)
11- South Africa (57th)
12- DR Congo (61st)
13- Burkina Faso (66th)
14- Cape Verde (72nd)
15- Ghana (77th)
16- Gabon (84th)
17- Angola (85th)
18- Zambia (87th)
19- Uganda (88th)
20- Equatorial Guinea (93rd)
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