Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya are unmoved in May 2021’s rankings released by the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) on Thursday.
The Super Eagles are third in the continent with 1487 points and occupy the 32nd spot globally.
Nigeria happen to be three-time African champions and will be hoping for a strong showing to secure FIFA World Cup qualification for 2022.
They will also want to have a strong showing in the Africa Cup of Nations that will be held in Cameroon.
Bafana Bafana, who missed out on qualification for the AFCON finals, go up against Zimbabwe in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and although they failed to make the cut for Africa’s premier football competition, they have retained their ranking of 15th place amongst African nations. Globally, however, they sit in 75th.
The Harambee Stars of Kenya will not be featuring at the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon either, nonetheless, even they still maintain their 23rd spot in Africa and 102nd position in the world rankings.
Charles Akonnor’s Black Stars of Ghana who are unbeaten in their last two games in all competitions are in 7th place in Africa and a respectable 49th in the world.
Senegal are still the highest-ranked nation in Africa and occupy the 22nd spot in the world with 1542 points, while Tunisia’s Eagles of Carthage remain 26th globally and second in Africa with a total of 1512 points.
Guinea Bissau were the biggest movers in April as they moved up a massive 11 places and are currently 108th in the world, while Namibia are ranked 111th.
For Africa Cup of Nations debutants Comoros, who lost 4-0 to Mohamed Salah’s Egypt on the last day of their AFCON qualification, are ranked at 36 in Africa and 131st worldwide.
Bahrain’s one-place gain (98, +1) is the only movement in May among the 210 senior national teams that are part of FIFA’s ratings.
European side Ukraine remain 24th but have dropped points as Serbia close the gap on them.
The order of the top six remains unchanged as Belgium lead the world rankings followed by world champions France, 5-time World Cup winners Brazil, 1966 World Cup champions England, European champions Portugal and 2010 World Cup champions Spain.
With most African teams taking part in international friendlies in June, there is bound to be significant movement in the next edition to be released on August 12.
