Kigali: Rwanda’s national men’s football team improved one slot to 129th in the FIFA global football rankings published on Thursday.
The improvement follows the recent 1-1 all draw against Ethiopia last week which enabled Amavubi to qualify for the 2020 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) finals which will be staged in Cameroon in April next year.
Rwanda also came fourth among the CECAFA Countries, after Uganda, Kenya and Sudan. Rwanda will play their first official game in November against Mozambique in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers away in Maputo before hosting hosts Cameroon in Kigali.
South Sudan moved up 11 places on the latest Fifa world rankings the joint-highest monthly movers globally alongside Nicaragua.
The move took them to 162nd on the list and was thanks to 1-0 and 2-1 wins over Seychelles in 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying.
Sao Tome and Principe’s two wins over Mauritius in Nations Cup qualifying saw them leap 10 places up to 180th.
The losses for Mauritius mean they fell 12 spots to 173 in the world, the biggest overall drop on the October rankings.
Senegal remain the highest ranked side in Africa and are 20 in the world.
Meanwhile, Belgium has remained at the top spot in the rankings with France and Brazil also holding on to their positions.
Top-ten rivals Uruguay (5th, up 1), Croatia (7th, up 1), Argentina (9th, up 1) have edged closer to the summit, according to the FIFA website.
But the most significant rises are to be found further down the Ranking, where the in-form quartet of Ukraine (22nd, up 3), Japan (28th, up 3), Turkey (32nd, up 4) and Russia (37th, up 5) are among the more notable climbers.
Jumps of ten or more places have also been made by a clutch of teams outside the top 50, namely Nicaragua (137th, up 11), South Sudan (162nd, up 11), Barbados (160th, up 10) and São Tomé and Príncipe (180th, up 10).
Women Football
Rwanda’s women national football team, which has not played any competitive match of recent, dropped to 145 in the monthly ranking of October. Nigeria leads the African chart followed by Cameroon and Ghana respectively. (End)