Likuena up 5 places in FIFA Rankings

Round of applause for Likuena

Lesotho has moved up five places to 148th in the world in the latest FIFA rankings. The rankings were updated today.

A total of 171 matches were taken into account for the April edition of the FIFA rankings. They include 51 qualifiers for 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, 60 continental qualifiers and 60 international friendlies.

Likuena move up after claiming a 2-1 win over Seychelles in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier two weeks ago. Lesotho also lost 2-0 to Seychelles in the month of March.

The new FIFA world rankings see Argentina take over from Belgium at the top. World champions Germany, meanwhile, have slipped down to fifth while Copa America winners Chile have moved up to third, the highest they have ever been in the FIFA standings.

The highest-placed African team is Algeria in 33rd place, one ahead of African champions Ivory Coast.

The other big news in the rankings for Africa is three-times continental champions Nigeria dropping down to 67th in the world, 14th in Africa, after failing to qualify for next year’s AFCON.

As things stand, Lesotho’s next assignment is a 2017 AFCON qualifier against Ethiopia on June 5. The following week the 2016 COSAFA Cup begins in Namibia.

Likuena’s remaining assignments for 2016:

June 5 – Lesotho v Ethiopia (2017 AFCON)

June 11-25 – COSAFA Cup (Namibia)

September 2 – Algeria v Lesotho (2017 AFCON)

FIFA World Ranking Top 10

Rank	Team	Points
1	Argentina	1532 (1531.67)
2	Belgium	1352 (1351.56)
3	Chile	1348 (1347.63)
4	Colombia	1337 (1336.71)
5	Germany	1309 (1309.31)
6	Spain	1277 (1276.81)
7	Brazil	1251 (1250.94)
8	Portugal	1184 (1184.03)
9	Uruguay	1158 (1157.57)
10	England	1069 (1069.34)

Top 10 Africa

Rank	Team	Points
1	Algeria	771 (770.97)
2	Côte d'Ivoire	738 (738.38)
3	Ghana	693 (693.03)
4	Senegal	651 (651.48)
5	Egypt	648 (647.52)
6	Cape Verde Islands	620 (620.4)
7	Tunisia	620 (620.37)
8	Congo DR	596 (596.37)
9	Guinea	570 (570.27)
10	Congo	562 (561.89)