FIFA Ranking: AFCON Debutants Gambia steal show
Scorpions of Gambia may have failed in their bid to enjoy fairy tale all the way to the Nations Cup finals but they stole the show at the event which has robbed off on their world ranking. Gambia recorded the highest upwards movement on the ranking released Thursday frog jumping 25 places thanks to their run the quarterfinals of the Nations Cup where their jolly ride was stopped by hosts Cameroon. Gambia hitherto on 150 on the ladder hit 125 after the Nations cup.
Expectedly Senegal continued their ascent into the upper echelons of world football. In fact, the Lions of Teranga have climbed to 18th in this February’s edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, their highest ever position. Unsurprisingly, the Cup of Nations generated most the movement seen in the year’s first edition of the Ranking.
Equatorial Guinea, who also reached the last eight at the tournament, climb 15 places and are now in the Top 100. Other notable rises were those of Malawi (119, + 10) and Gabon (82, + 7). For their part, Mali (48, + 5) made more modest gains but nonetheless broke in to the Top 50.
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With eight of its teams now in the Top 50 (up 1 this edition), CAF has consolidated its third place in terms of confederation ranking, to the detriment of the AFC (4 teams in the Top 50, a fall of 1). The other confederations have the same number of representatives as in the December 2021 Ranking: 26 for UEFA, 8 for CONMEBOL, 4 for CONCACAF and none for OFC.
Other notable movers were Canada (33, + 7) and Costa Rica (42, + 7), on the back of stellar performances during their Qatar 2022 qualifiers in the CONCACAF zone.
The top three in the world however remain unchanged with Belgium (1, unchanged) remain in pole position ahead of Brazil (2, unchanged) and France (3, unchanged).
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 31 March 2022.
Here is a summary of the ranking at a glance
Leader Belgium (unchanged)
Countries entering the Top 10 None
Countries exiting the Top 10 None
Total matches played 116
Most matches played Burkina Faso (8 matches)
Biggest increase in points Gambia (plus 85.44 points)
Biggest increase in places Gambia (plus 25 places)
Biggest drop in points Algeria (minus 55.58 points)
Biggest drop in places Algeria (minus 14 places)
Countries joining the Ranking None
Countries leaving the Ranking None
Unranked inactive teams Cook Islands