By Frank Kamuntu
Morocco continues to lead Africa as the continent’s best-ranked men’s football team, according to FIFA rankings released last year.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finalists are ranked at position 13 globally, behind Argentina, France, Brazil, England, Belgium, Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Croatia, USA and Mexico in that order.
Morocco had 1658.49 unit points, 5.45 points behind 12th-placed Mexico.
FIFA uses a relatively complex points-calculation formula that was revised in September 2023.
In simple terms, the world football governing body ranks teams based on the total points earned in competitive matches across a given period.
Top Five
A better-ranked team, therefore, has had a good run of results in recent times compared to one that is lowly-ranked.
Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2021 champions Senegal are second in Africa, and 20th worldwide, with 1600.82 unit points.
Tunisia, who rank at position 32 globally, are third in Africa with 1516.14 points.
The North African nation is followed by its neighbours Algeria, who are placed at number 33 in the world, with 1512.9 unit points.
Egypt round out Africa’s five best football teams, with 1511.95 points, placing them at position 35 globally.
Burkina Faso Round Out 10 Best
Nigeria are sixth on the continent and 40th in the world with 1490.48 points.
Cameroon are seventh in Africa and 43rd globally with 1466.98 points, followed by Mali who rank at position 47 in the world with 1449.75 points.
AFCON 2023 hosts Côte d’Ivoire – or Ivory Coast – are at the ninth position in Africa, and 52nd in the world with 1439.17 points.
Burkina Faso, who are ranked at position 56 globally, round out Africa’s ten best football teams with 1410.59 points.
Eritrea Not Ranked
All the African teams were ranked by FIFA, except for Eritrea, who the world governing body say, failed to play regular matches.
“No ranking available (for Eritrea) due to not having played at least one match during the last 48 months or not having played at least five matches against officially ranked teams,” FIFA said on Thursday.
Below is the full list of African teams’ ranking by FIFA as of October 2023:
1. Morocco (13 globally)
2. Senegal (20)
3. Tunisia (32)
4. Algeria (33)
5. Egypt (35)
6. Nigeria (40)
7. Cameroon (43)
8. Mali (47)
9. Côte d’Ivoire (52)
10. Burkina Faso (56)
11. Ghana (60)
12. South Africa (64)
13. Democratic Republic of Congo (65)
14. Cape Verde (74)
15. Guinea (80)
16. Zambia (81)
17. Gabon (86)
18. Uganda (90)
19. Equatorial Guinea (91)
20. Benin (93)
21. Mauritania (101)
22. Republic of Congo (106)
23. Madagascar (108)
24. Kenya (110)
25. Guinea-Bissau (110)
26. Mozambique (113)
27. Namibia (114)
28. Angola (116)
29. Gambia (117)
30. Togo (119)
31. Tanzania (121)
32. Sierra Leone (122)
33. Malawi (123)
34. Zimbabwe (125)
35. Libya (126)
36. Central African Republic (127)
37. Comoros (128)
38. Niger (129)
39. Sudan (130)
40. Rwanda (140)
41. Burundi (142)
42. Ethiopia (143)
43. Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) – 146
44. Botswana (148)
45. Liberia (151)
46. Lesotho (153)
47. South Sudan (167)
48. Mauritius (177)
49. Chad (179)
50. Sao Tome and Principe (186)
51. Djibouti (189)
52. Seychelles (195)
53. Somalia (196)
54. Eritrea (not ranked)
FIFA ranked a total of 207 teams in the world, with Southern Europe’s San Marino the lowest ranked team globally. It had 746.98 unit points.
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