Bafana Bafana improves to 70th in the world despite no game time for four months
by Nick Said,
2016-03-03 16:58:29.0
BAFANA Bafana have risen three places to number 70 in the latest Fifa World Rankings released on Thursday, despite not having played a match in almost four months.
The rankings are calculated over the last four years and so historical results have culminated in the South African national team’s climb.
They have benefited from heavy falls by Equatorial Guinea (down 12 places) and Mali (down five) and are now listed as the 14th-best team on the African continent.
The rise of Cape Verde Islands football has continued, with the tiny archipelago — located almost 600km off the coast of Africa — now the continent’s top team in the Fifa rankings.
They have taken over from African champions Côte d’Ivoire, who are now second, followed by Algeria, Ghana and Tunisia. Senegal, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo-Brazzaville and Cameroon round out the top 10.
It means that Bafana can claim some major rankings points when they take on Cameroon at home and away in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers later this month.
They need to also win those games to stand a chance of reaching the finals in Gabon next year.
The other two sides in their qualification group both rose one place in the latest rankings, with Mauritania now at 106 and Gambia 164.
Belgium remain number one on the global list, followed by Argentina, Spain, world champions Germany and Chile. Brazil, Portugal, Colombia, England and Austria make up the rest of the top 10.
The only change in the top 25 was Italy’s leapfrogging the Netherlands into 14th spot.
SA will seek to improve their ranking ahead of the draw for the group stages of qualifying for the 2018 Fifa World Cup that is to take place on June 24 in Cairo.
Although the seeding criteria has not been announced yet, it will most likely be based on that month’s Fifa world ranking, which would leave Bafana potentially with at least two giants from the rest of the continent in their pool.
The 20 remaining sides will be split into five groups of four, with only the pool winners advancing to Russia.
TMG Digital
Sibusiso Vilakazi. Picture: GALLO IMAGES/ANESH DEBIKY
BAFANA Bafana have risen three places to number 70 in the latest Fifa World Rankings released on Thursday, despite not having played a match in almost four months.
The rankings are calculated over the last four years and so historical results have culminated in the South African national team’s climb.
They have benefited from heavy falls by Equatorial Guinea (down 12 places) and Mali (down five) and are now listed as the 14th-best team on the African continent.
The rise of Cape Verde Islands football has continued, with the tiny archipelago — located almost 600km off the coast of Africa — now the continent’s top team in the Fifa rankings.
They have taken over from African champions Côte d’Ivoire, who are now second, followed by Algeria, Ghana and Tunisia. Senegal, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo-Brazzaville and Cameroon round out the top 10.
It means that Bafana can claim some major rankings points when they take on Cameroon at home and away in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers later this month.
They need to also win those games to stand a chance of reaching the finals in Gabon next year.
The other two sides in their qualification group both rose one place in the latest rankings, with Mauritania now at 106 and Gambia 164.
Belgium remain number one on the global list, followed by Argentina, Spain, world champions Germany and Chile. Brazil, Portugal, Colombia, England and Austria make up the rest of the top 10.
The only change in the top 25 was Italy’s leapfrogging the Netherlands into 14th spot.
SA will seek to improve their ranking ahead of the draw for the group stages of qualifying for the 2018 Fifa World Cup that is to take place on June 24 in Cairo.
Although the seeding criteria has not been announced yet, it will most likely be based on that month’s Fifa world ranking, which would leave Bafana potentially with at least two giants from the rest of the continent in their pool.
The 20 remaining sides will be split into five groups of four, with only the pool winners advancing to Russia.
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