adminSikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Warriors moved slightly up on the Fifa rankings but remain outside the top 100 in the world according to the latest Fifa/Coca-Cola World Rankings released yesterday morning from Zurich, Switzerland.The Warriors who are in South Africa for the African Nations Championship finals, moved two places up from 107 to 105 on the world stage while their continental rankings is now at 29, up from 30 last month.
Their Chan Group B opponents, Uganda, Burkina Faso and Morocco, all moved downwards with the North Africans sliding down from 73 to 74 in the world while they remained at 17 in Africa.
Uganda moved a step down to 11 in Africa and dropped 53 to 58 in the world. There have been very few changes to the first edition of the 2014 rankings.
Only 18 friendlies have been included since December’s edition, five of which took place in 2013, with the remaining 13 in the first half of this month.
There was no movement in the top 25 with Spain still holding a comfortable lead over Germany and Argentina. Saudi Arabia (73rd, up 14) and Egypt (31st, up 10) have made the biggest climbs, both benefiting from the devaluation of older matches. Five other teams have managed to move up at least five places: Chan hosts South Africa (54th, up eight), United Arab Emirates (63rd, up eight), Belize (152nd, up seven), Oman (79th, up six) and Mali (40th, up five).
Significant movements are expected in the February edition of the rankings, which will take into account all the results from the 16-team Chan, which is underway in South Africa.
The tournament is exclusive to players based in their home countries. The next rankings will be released on February 13.
Summary
Leader Spain (unchanged)
Moves into top ten none
Moves out of top ten none
Matches played in total 18 (five of which were in 2013)
Most matches played Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain (four matches each)
Biggest move by points Saudi Arabia (up 96 points)
Biggest move by ranks Saudi Arabia (up 14 ranks)
Biggest drop by points Gabon, Jordan (down 32 points each)
Biggest drop by ranks Gabon (down eight ranks)
Online Reporter