South Africa Move Up On Latest FIFA Rankings
South Africa moved up the latest Fifa International Men’s Football Rankings that saw very little change.
Bafana Bafana and Lesotho (139 in the world) were the only two African nations to make any progress upwards.
Molefi Ntseki’s side remain at number 13 on the continental list that is headed by Senegal‚ Tunisia‚ Nigeria‚ Algeria and Morocco respectively.
It means South Africa will be second seeds for next month’s FIFA World Cup qualifying draw‚ and that they will have to get past a top continental power to reach Qatar in 2022.
FIFA World Cup Qualifying Draw Pots-Africa
Pot 1: Senegal‚ Tunisia‚ Nigeria‚ Algeria‚ Morocco‚ Ghana‚ Egypt‚ Cameroon‚ Mali‚ DR Congo.
Pot 2: Burkina Faso‚ Ivory Coast‚ South Africa, Guinea‚ Uganda‚ Cape Verde‚ Gabon‚ Benin‚ Zambia and Congo-Brazzaville.
Pot 3: Madagascar‚ Mauritania‚ Libya‚ Mozambique‚ Kenya‚ Central African Republic‚ Zimbabwe‚ Niger‚ Namibia‚ Guinea-Bissau.
Pot 4: Malawi‚ Angola‚ Togo‚ Sudan‚ Rwanda‚ Tanzania‚ Equatorial Guinea‚ Ethiopia‚ Liberia‚ Djibouti.
The 40 teams will be drawn into 10 groups each containing four sides‚ with the pool winners advancing to a knockout round where they will play an opponent over two legs to determine the five teams to play in Qatar.
On the other hand, Belgium remained the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking’s “Team of the Year” for the second successive time with World Champions France and Brazil remaining in second and third positions respectively while England climbed one place to reach fourth and Uruguay moved up to fifth on the back of a two-spot rise.
By Gerald Dandah
