Rwanda Drops to 139th in FIFA Rankings

29 June 2023
The New Times (Kigali)
By Damas Sikubwabo

Rwanda has moved four spots down to 139th in the latest FIFA world rankings released on Thursday.

The country is now ranked 139th in June rankings, down from 135th as per the world rankings released in April.

Amavubi had a poor show in the past two outings of the 2023 Africa Cup of the Nations qualifiers, losing 3-0 to Benin after CAF declared forfeit against the country over fielding an ineligible player, before losing 2-0 to Mozambique in Huye a fortnight ago.

Rwanda's 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.

Carlos Ferrer's side is also ranked 39th in Africa. Morocco (13th) leads the continent, followed by Senegal (18th) while Tunisia (31st), Algeria (33rd) and Egypt (34th) complete the top five.

Argentina (1st) are settling into their new role as world leaders. Nearly three months on from regaining top spot in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, La Albiceleste remain out front thanks to friendly wins over Australia and Indonesia. The top three is also unchanged, with the reigning world champions staying ahead of France (2nd) and Brazil (3rd).

There has been movement behind them. England (4th, plus 1) and Belgium (5th, minus 1) swap places, as do Croatia (6th, plus 1) and Netherlands (7th, minus 1). Newly crowned CONCACAF Nations League champions USA (11th, plus 2) close in on the Top 10, where Spain (10th) manage to remain thanks to their UEFA Nations League triumph.

There have been some major moves further down the ranking. While Wales (35th, minus 9) and Côte d'Ivoire (51st, minus 6) dropped places, Ukraine (24th, plus 6), Scotland (30th, plus 6) and Armenia (90th, plus 7) all moved in the opposite direction. Slovakia (46th, plus 5), Greece (49th, plus 3) and Mali (50th, plus 3) are back in the Top 50, while Mauritania (99th, plus 6) and India (100th, plus 1) both return to the Top 100.

The biggest climb of all has come outside the Top 100, courtesy of Kazakhstan (104th, plus 8). Other notable climbers are Togo (122nd, plus 7), Tanzania (123rd, plus 7) and Moldova (164th, plus 7), who have picked up 22.7 points, thanks in no small part to their shock 3-2 defeat of Poland in the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifiers, a match in which 148 places separated the two sides at kick-off.

The next FIFA ranking will be released on July 20.

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