Bafana fall in Fifa world rankings

Having gone without a win in their last four matches, Bafana Bafana dropped four places to 53rd in the latest Fifa world rankings released on Wednesday.

The South African national soccer team lost 2-1 against Niger in September and played to a goalless draw against Sierra Leone in October in their final Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier.

They followed up those performances with a crash out of the Afcon qualifying competition, with a 1-1 draw against Côte d’Ivoire—the top-ranked team in Africa—and a 2-1 loss to neighbours Zimbabwe.

Their current ranking is the team’s lowest this year after climbing to an impressive 38th position in May.

England jump to fifth
England jumped up into fifth place thanks to their 1-0 victory over Spain in a friendly last week.

While the top four of Spain, The Netherlands, Germany and Uruguay remain unchanged, Brazil fall one place to sixth and Italy three spots to ninth.

Croatia gained four places to sit in eighth, one place behind Portugal, with Argentina making up the top 10.—Sapa, AFP

Leading Fifa world rankings (change in brackets):

1. Spain


2. Netherlands


3. Germany


4. Uruguay


5. England (+2)


6. Brazil (-1)


7. Portugal (+1)


8. Croatia (+4)


9. Italy (-3)


10. Argentina


11. Denmark (-1)


12. Russia (+1)


13. Chile (+3)


14. Greece (-6)


15. France