Kenya move two places up in latest Fifa rankings
By GEOFFREY ANENEKenya has risen two places in the latest Fifa rankings released by the world football body on Thursday.
Harambee Stars are now in position 105, up from 107 following their 0-0 result in Bahir Dar and 3-0 win in Nairobi against neighbours Ethiopia in back-to-back 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group “F” qualifying matches held on October 10 and October 14 respectively.
Sebastien Migne’s charges had the biggest leap during the September rankings in terms of points, when they stunned Ghana 1-0 in Nairobi in their second qualifying match to improve from 112 to 107 after clinching 22 points (17.9 from beating Ghana and 4.1 from defeating Malawi in an international friendly match also in Nairobi).
BEST RANKED IN AFRICA
The latest round of results against Ethiopia have seen Harambee Stars add their points tally from 1204 to 1210. They are tied on 105th with Libya, who have dropped six places. Stars have also benefited from Niger’s slip-up. Niger suffered 1-0 and 2-1 defeats in the hands of Tunisia.
Uganda still tops the Fifa chart in the Eastern Africa zone at position 79 thanks to 3-0 and 2-0 wins against Lesotho in AFCON qualifiers. The Ugandans have improved four places in the global rankings.
Tanzania, which is in the same group with Uganda and currently placed second in that group, has jumped four places to 136th after shocking number 67 ranked Cape Verde.
Tunisia continue to lead the table in Africa at position 22 in the world followed by Senegal at position 25 globally. The Democratic Republic of Congo (46), Morocco (47) and Cameroon (51 ) complete the top five places in Africa.
TOP 10 IN THE WORLD
There are three changes in the top 10 teams in the world, with Belgium still on top. World champions France have dropped to second place, having jointly held top spot with Belgium last month.
Brazil and Croatia stay third and fourth respectively while England has moved one place up to fifth, pushing Uruguay to sixth.
Portugal, Switzerland, Spain and Colombia close the best 10 countries in the world in that order.
The biggest gainers were Gibraltar, who are up eight places to 190th, while the biggest losers are Mozambique who have dropped from 113 to 122.