The Ghanaian Journal

A total of 117 international ‘A’ matches have been played in the last few weeks, the most important of which besides the Africa Cup of Nations (32 matches) were CONCACAF and AFC qualifying matches for the World Cup (17 matches). The other 68 fixtures were Reuters

The recently concluded African Nations Cup in Ghana has clearly left its mark on the latest FIFA world rankings issued yesterday.

While there have been no changes at the top as Argentina, Brazil and Italy remain out in front with just a few points separating them, two African teams - Ghana (14th, up 29) and Cameroon (17th, up - have climbed into the top 20.

Fellow Cup of Nations semi-finalists Egypt (29th, up 6), who went on to successfully defend their title, and Ivory Coast (24th, up 14) have also made progress up the ranking. Furthermore, Ghana’s 14th place represents an all-time best for this country and makes them Africa’s top-ranked team of the moment.

Nigeria (45th, down 26) have plummeted after failing to live up to expectations at the African Cup and have gone from being the top African side in the ranking to only the continent’s sixth best.

The biggest movers this month are all inside the top 100, namely, Australia (38th, up 10), Latvia (72nd, up 13), Bahrain (83rd, up 17), Thailand (92nd, up 15) and Guatemala (94th, up 11).

Ghana are not the only team to have achieved their best-ever position since the rankings were introduced in August 1993 as they are joined by Greece (10th, up 1), Moldova (49th, up 4), New Caledonia (115th, up 2) and the Turks and Caicos Islands (158th, up 21).

In the lower reaches of the rankings, Belize (176th, up 25) also deserve a mention after clambering off bottom place after their first victory in almost six years.

Malta have gained two places, from 136th up to 134th, in the latest rankings. The national team added nine points to their total thanks to the 1-0 victory over Iceland in the recently-held International Football Tournament.

Belarus, who won the four-team event after beating Malta 1-0 in the decisive match, are still ranked 63rd despite a loss of 23 points from last month’s tally.