GUINEA-BISSAU, MOROCCO THE BIG MOVERS IN FIFA RANKINGS

Guinea-Bissau have risen a whopping 45 places up the world rankings following their heroics in Group E of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, making them the biggest upward movers in the latest release by FIFA.

The West African team recorded back-to-back wins over Kenya to move to the top of their pool in qualifying for the 2017 AFCON and the results have seen them rise to a place just outside the top 100 in the world – they are listed 102nd, the best placing they have achieved in their FIFA rankings history. 

Chad (97th in the world) and Comoros (159th) also registered their best ever positions in the rankings thanks to their results in the recent AFCON preliminary matches.

Another big mover was Morocco, with the North Africans claiming back-to-back wins over Cape Verde to move up 17 places to 64th in the world and 12th in Africa overall. The Blue Sharks, meanwhile, plummeted from their position as the best African team to 47th in the world and sixth on the continent. 

This means Algeria, who recently parted ways with coach Christian Gourcuff, are back at top spot for the African continent and 33rd overall. They are closely trailed by Cote d’Ivoire (second in Africa, 34th in the world) and Ghana (third in Africa, 38th in the world).

Egypt have also risen strongly (up nine places to 44th in the wold and fifth on the continent) thanks to their results against Nigeria (down five places to 67th in the world and 15th on the continent) in AFCON qualifying.

At the head of the rankings, Argentina have moved into top spot, shifting Belgium down to second, while Chile have reached an all-time high of third. The top 10 is completed by Colombia, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Portugal, Uruguay and England. 

Africa’s top 20 teams (world ranking in parenthesis)

1 Algeria (33)

2 Cote d’Ivoire (34)

3 Ghana (38)

4 Senegal (43)

5 Egypt (44)

6 Cape Verde Islands (47)

7 Tunisia (47)

8 DR Congo (51)

9 Guinea (58)

10 Congo (59)

11 Cameroon (63)

12 Morocco (64)

13 Mali (65)

14 Nigeria (67)

15 South Africa (70)

16 Uganda (72)

17 Benin (73)

18 Burkina Faso (75)

19 Zambia (78)

20 Equatorial Guinea (83)