Like an ailing share on the stock market, Bafana Bafana on Wednesday slipped to 46th place in the Fifa world rankings — the most dire position in the past 10 years.
South Africa had already touched a 10-year low in September, and a nightmare sequence of defeats against Ghana, Iceland, Burkina Faso and Germany has resulted in a further drop of four places in the past month.
Bafana’s highest rating goes back nine years, when 16th position was briefly reached after success in the 1996 African Nations Cup.
Since then, Bafana’s world ranking has wavered mainly in the 20s and 30s, before slipping unceremoniously into the 40s during the past three months.
Bafana have also dropped to seventh place in the African rankings, behind Cameroon and Nigeria, joint first, as well as Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal and Morocco.
The best-placed African teams in the world ranking are Cameroon and Nigeria in 23rd position, with world champions Brazil occupying top position for the 38th successive month. — Sapa