Busy schedule could earn Bafana Bafana valuable FIFA ranking points

04 September 2015 - 17:39 By Nick Said

South Africa have remained unchanged in the latest Fifa World Rankings and still occupy the number 72 position on the global list released on Thursday. They also remain the 17th best team on the African continent‚ according to Fifa‚ but will have the chance to improve on that significantly with eight games scheduled between now and the end of the year.It is still well outside of Safa’s stated aim for the country to be a regular in the top three teams in Africa‚ and the top 20 on the global list.Saturday’s African Nations Cup qualifier opponents Mauritania dropped a single place to number 114 in the world‚ some way off their best-ever placing of number 85 achieved in 1995.Senegal‚ who Bafana Bafana will face in the Nelson Mandela Challenge at the Orlando Stadium‚ climbed one place to number 38 on the global list and are ranked as the fifth-best team in Africa.Victory for Shakes Mashaba’s side in this game will give them valuable ranking points.One place below them in number 39 on the global list are Costa Rica‚ who Bafana will play in the Costa Rican city of Liberia on October 8 in a friendly tour that also includes a game against Honduras‚ who are ranked below South Africa at number 81 in the world.Angola‚ who Bafana will play four times in under a month in African Nations Championship and Fifa World Cup qualifiers‚ have risen a single place to 88th in the world and are the 23rd best team in Africa according to Fifa.Algeria remain the continent’s top team‚ followed by Ivory Coast‚ Ghana‚ Tunisia and Senegal. Congo‚ Cameroon‚ Egypt‚ Nigeria and Cape Verde Islands round off the top 10.There was little change at the top of the global list‚ with Argentina continuing to reign supreme‚ followed by Belgium. Germany‚ Colombia and Brazil are others in the top five‚ while Portugal‚ Romania‚ Chile‚ Wales and England round off the top 10. ..

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