Likuena slip one place in FIFA rankings

Jane Thaba-Ntšo and Likuena are now 149th in the world, 45th in Africa...

Lesotho has slipped one place to 149th in the world in the latest FIFA rankings. Likuena are now 45th in Africa behind South Sudan (44th), Angola (43rd) and Comoros (42nd).

Likuena have only played one match in 2017, a 1-0 friendly loss away to Mozambique in March. The defeat is also Lesotho’s only game since Moses Maliehe took over as coach in December.

Lesotho will play its first competitive game under Maliehe on June 13, a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier away against Tanzania.

Likuena, of course, are in Group L of the 2019 AFCON qualifiers alongside Uganda, Cape Verde and Tanzania. After the June fixture against Tanzania there will be a long break until March 2018 for the next round of group games when Lesotho will host Cape Verde.

The national team’s next competitive fixture of 2017, therefore, will be in July in the form of a two-legged match against Comoros in the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers.  Comoros will host the first leg on July 4 before the return leg at Setsoto Stadium on July 21.

Should Likuena navigate their way past Comoros they would face either Namibia or Zimbabwe in the final CHAN qualifying round in August.

Returning to the world rankings and it was a quiet month on the international front which is reflected in FIFA’s latest ratings.

Egypt remains Africa’s top-ranked country after moving up one place to 35th on the global rankings table. The Pharaohs are followed by Senegal and African champions Cameroon.

Burkina Faso, Nigeria, DR Congo, Tunisia, Ghana‚ Ivory Coast and Morocco round out Africa’s top ten.

The biggest movers in FIFA’s latest rankings were Madagascar, who soared nine places to 111th in the world, while Malawi was the worst mover, dropping 14 places from 100th to 114th.

When it comes to the world’s top ten, there was also no movement with Brazil still first on the charts followed by Argentina‚ Germany‚ Chile and Colombia.

France‚ Belgium‚ European champions Portugal‚ Switzerland and Spain make up the rest of the world’s top ten teams.