adminZIMBABWE Warriors moved a step up the ladder to 123 on the Fifa World rankings that were released yesterday morning by the world football body. With 209 Fifa associations, the Warriors are now on the lower half in terms of rankings, about 70 places above South Sudan, who became a Fifa member just three years ago.
Zimbabwe’s highest ranking since Fifa introduced rankings was in 1993, when the national team, then known as the Dream Team under Reinhard Fabisch were the 46th best team in the world. In 2003 and 2005, the Warriors achieved a ranking of 53 in the world.
Algeria remain the highest ranked African country.
On the world stage, there have been some notable changes. Belgium (third, up one) have achieved their highest-ever position following two wins in Uefa Euro 2016 qualifying matches, and now trail only Germany and Argentina.
Brazil (fifth, up one) and the Netherlands (sixth, down one) have traded places. The Brazilians defeated France (11th, down three) 3-1, while the Netherlands had to settle for a draw against Turkey (52nd, up four) in their Euro qualifier.
Switzerland (ninth, up three) and Spain (10th, up one) have re-entered the top 10 at the expense of France and Italy (13th, down three) respectively.
In addition to the above movers, the following teams have risen more than 10 places since March: Wales (22nd, up 15), Belarus (83rd, up 15), Iraq (86th, up 11), Azerbaijan (115th, up 24), Syria (126th, up 26), Bermuda (129th, up 40), India (147th, up 26), Curaçao (148th, up 11), Timor-Leste (152nd, up 33), Nicaragua (154th, up 31), Guyana (155th, up 11), Gambia (156th, up 12), Bhutan (163rd, up 46), the US Virgin Islands (173rd, up 24), Brunei Darussalam (183rd, up 15) and the Cayman Islands (191st, up 14). Most of these teams were victorious in one or more recent qualifiers, such as Bhutan, who beat Sri Lanka twice in the Asian preliminaries for the 2018 Fifa World Cup Russia and are now positioned 163rd.
In addition to Belgium and Bhutan, Wales, the Faroe Islands (102nd, up three) and Timor-Leste have all achieved their highest-ever position since the ranking was introduced in 1993.
A total of 135 “A” internationals were taken into account for the latest edition of the global ladder, taking the total number of games evaluated so far this year to 217. Of the new matches, 25 were qualifiers for Euro 2016, 26 were 2018 World Cup qualifiers (Concaf, AFC) and 84 were friendlies.
The next Fifa/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on May 7, 2015.
Summary
Leader Germany (unchanged)
Moves into top ten Switzerland (9th, up 3) Spain (10th, up 1) Moves out of top ten France (11th, down 3) Italy (13th, down 3) Matches played in total 135
Most matches played British Virgin Islands, Dominica
(3 matches each)
Biggest move by points Wales (up 153 points)
Biggest move by ranks Bhutan (up 46 ranks)
Biggest drop by points Israel (down 231 points) Biggest drop by ranks New Caledonia (down 23 ranks)
Online Reporter