The Rwandan national football team, Amavubi have been ranked 40th in Africa and 136th globally by FIFA in the June 2022 world football ranking which was released on Thursday evening. The last time the list came out was three months ago and the Amavubi have maintained their position both on the African continent and in the world. Rwandas highest ever position in the FIFA ranking was 64th in the world which was achieved in March 2015 under the tutelage of English tactician Stephen Constantine whereas the lowest was 178th in the world in July 1999 under German gaffer Rudi Gutendorf. This is the first ranking under new coach Carlos Alos and he will be hoping to move the team to at least the top 70 in the world after his impressive start at the helm of affairs. The Amavubi recorded a draw with Mozambique and lost 1-0 to Senegal earlier this month in the 2023 AFCON qualifiers. Senegal are the highest ranked African team on the list as they are 20th in the world and 1st on the continent. They are followed by Morocco, Nigeria and Egypt respectively. In the CECAFA region, Uganda tops the chart as they are 18th in Africa and 86th in the world with Kenya is 22nd in Africa and 104 in the world. Brazil leads the overall worldwide ranking followed by Belgium, France, Argentina and England. The FIFA world ranking is normally used by continental bodies such as CAF as part of the criteria used for seeding teams in qualifiers such as that of the AFCON. The Amavubi had a walkover in the first qualifying phase of the 2023 AFCON because they were ranked in the first 145 teams in the world whereas countries like Gambia had to play the first stage because they were not in the first 145 in the FIFA ranking then. A win for the Amavubi in their next continental assignment which is in September against Benin will see them move up on the FIFA ranking.
