Bafana Bafana Face Tough World Cup Draw After Latest FIFA Rankings

FIFA has confirmed Bafana Bafana’s path for the World Cup draw set for December 5 in Washington DC. The November rankings will guide all seeding and pot placements. South Africa dropped from 59 to 61 in the latest list.

The 3-1 win over Zambia did not change their ranking. The team also fell out of Africa’s top 10. DR Congo moved ahead of South Africa after gaining points.

Only four qualified teams from outside Africa are ranked lower than South Africa. These are Jordan at 66, Curacao at 82, Haiti at 85 and New Zealand at 86. Cape Verde at 68 and Ghana at 72 are the only CAF qualifiers placed lower. Confederation rules separate teams from the same region in the group stage except in Europe where the number of teams is higher than the number of groups. Each group can have no more than two European teams.

FIFA has not confirmed how it will rank the play off winners who will be decided in March. Italy, ranked 12, is part of this group. If FIFA places all play off winners in Pot 4 then South Africa could shift to the final position in Pot 3. At the moment, South Africa sit among the twelve lowest ranked qualifiers who will likely fill Pot 4.

Forty two of the forty eight qualifiers are confirmed. The last six will come from Europe and the inter continental play offs. South Africa will remain among the lowest seeds regardless of those outcomes.

All South American qualifiers rank above South Africa. These are Argentina at 2, Brazil at 5, Colombia at 13, Uruguay at 16, Ecuador at 23 and Paraguay at 39. Bolivia at 76 is the play off team from the region but the core of the group holds strong positions.

Europe’s qualifiers also rank higher. Spain is 1, France 3, England 4, Portugal 6, Netherlands 7, Belgium 8, Germany 9, Croatia 10, Switzerland 17, Austria 24, Norway 29 and Scotland 36. Nine of the sixteen countries contesting the last four European spots sit above South Africa. Italy leads that group at 12 and the group stretches to Ireland at 59. FIFA’s choices in this bracket may shift Bafana’s path.

Asia presents only one lower ranked qualifier, Jordan. Iraq, who will compete in the play offs, sit at 58 which is higher than South Africa.

In the CONCACAF region Curacao and Haiti are lower than South Africa. Suriname, one of the play off candidates, is also ranked below them. Oceania is the only confederation where all teams have lower rankings. This group includes New Zealand and New Caledonia.

South Africa face a hard draw. A likely place in Pot 4 means they will meet stronger opponents in the group phase. The current ranking highlights the need for results that produce consistent upward movement.