Bafana move up in Fifa rankings
2008-07-02 14:38
Johannesburg - Despite a disappointing showing in their recent 2010 Afcon qualifiers, Bafana Bafana has moved up one place in the latest Fifa rankings to 67th position, as new European champions Spain shoot to the top of the rankings for the first time ever.
South Africa remain 13th in the Africa rankings, while Cameroon remain top, with Nigeria leapfrogging Ivory Coast into fourth spot.
Ghana continued to slide down the rankings, dropping four places on the world ranking to 20, although they kept hold of their number two spot in Africa.
Egypt also held on to third place in Africa despite losing one place on the world ranking.
But it was not the same story for the Ivory Coast, who dropped three places following a run of indifferent results in qualifying and have now been shoved aside by Nigeria.
Ghana's conquerors Gabon (74th, up 20 places) were one of the biggest movers in May along with the likes of Burkina Faso (64th, up 47), Cape Verde Islands (85th, up 24), Kenya (92nd, up 23).
World Cup 2010 hosts South Africa surprisingly moved up one place on the rankings, and Sierra Leone moved up a massive 26 places. Equatorial Guinea were the only one of South Africa's qualifying group rivals to drop in the rankings, going down 10 places.
Africa's Top 20 (Global ranking in brackets):
1 (13) Cameroon
2 (20) Ghana
3 (24) Egypt
4 (26) Nigeria
5 (28) Ivory Coast
6 (37) Morocco
7 (39) Guinea
8 (42) Senegal
9 (47) Tunisia
10 (51) Mali
11 (61) Angola
12 (64) Burkina Faso
13 (67) South Africa
14 (69) Togo
15 (73) Zambia
16 (74) Gabon
17 (76) Congo DR
18 (82) Zimbabwe
19 (84) Equatorial Guinea
20 (85) Cape Verde Islands
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