Rwanda move up one spot in FIFA rankings

Rwanda has moved one place to 73rd in the latest FIFA/Coca Cola World rankings released on Thursday in Zurich, Switzerland.

Saturday, May 09, 2015
Amavubi players listen to coach Johnny Mckinstry during a training session. Better performances from the national side will see Rwanda improve further in Fifa rankings. (Sam Ngendahimana)

Rwanda has moved one place to 73rd in the latest FIFA/Coca Cola World rankings released on Thursday in Zurich, Switzerland.

Rwanda got its best ranking in December after it was listed at number 64th in the world but a 2-0 to Zambia in an international friendly resulted into the Amavubi Stars drop ten slots in the May rankings.

Rwanda is still second in the CECAFA region, trailing Uganda (71) by two positions. Ethiopia are third, Tanzania stand in fourth place, Sudan sit in fifth position while Kenya come into the sixth place with Burundi coming last in the region.

Only Ghana is above Rwanda in group H of the 2017 AFCON qualifiers. Mauritius dropped five places to 185th while Mozambique remained unmoved on 86th while AFCON finalists Ghana are third in Africa and 26th in the World.

The 2017 AFCON qualifiers are scheduled to run from June 12 to September 4, 2016. The tournament will be hosted by Gabon and a total of 16 qualified nations will be vying to become the next African champions.

In Africa, Algeria lead CAF region, reigning African champions Ivory Coast stand in 23rd position, Ghana is third in Africa while Tunisia completes Africa’s big four in 31st place.

Globally, the top 10 positions remained unchanged which means World champions Germany still top the table, Netherlands are second, Belgium is third with Colombia completing the big fourth. Brazil is fifth, Spain tenth while England stands in 14th position.

Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale’s Wales attained a historical ranking, climbing five places from April’s position to emerge 21st in the latest rankings.