Rwanda has moved up two spots in the latest FIFA ranking released on Thursday, April 6. The country is now ranked 135th in the April rankings up from 137th as per the world rankings released December 2022. Their improvement in the global ranking comes after Rwanda’s fair performance during their 2023 AFCON Group L qualifiers against Benin in March. Amavubi held Benin to a 1-1 draw on March 22 in Cotonou before the pair played out the same result a week later in Kigali. Argentina have finally moved at the summit of world football for the first time in six years. Recent friendly wins against Panama (2-0) and Curaçao (7-0) helped the world champions dethrone Brazil (3rd, minus 2), who paid a high price for defeat in their friendly against Morocco (2-1). Not only did the Seleçao surrender top spot, but they also saw France (2nd, plus 1) move ahead of them. Les Bleus’ ascent to second is down to back-to-back wins in UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying against the Netherlands (4-0) and Republic of Ireland (1-0). Outside the leading trio, there were no other movers among the Top 10. Belgium (4th, -) remain just outside the podium places, closely followed by England (5th, -). In fact, the swapping of places by Senegal (18th, plus 1) and Denmark (19th, minus 1) were the only other notable changes in the Top 20. Meanwhile, Morocco (11th) remains at the top of Africa followed by Senegal (18th), Tunisia (28th) and Algeria (34th) as Egypt (35th) completes the top five. The most improved side in this edition are the Central African Republic (122nd, plus 10). By twice beating Madagascar, at the time ranked 30 places above them, Les Fauves du Bas-Oubangui rose 10 places in the global standings, outperforming other notable movers such as Namibia (106th, plus 7), Malaysia (138th, plus 7) and The Gambia (120th, plus 6). The next FIFA World Ranking will be published on 20 July.
