Rwanda national football team has climbed up ten places in the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola rankings releasedon Thursdayin Zurich, Switzerland. Rwanda, with 338 points, moved from 101st position to 91st and was ranked the second best mover of the month globally after Thailand, who improved from 133rd to 121st. Rwanda is also 23rd on the continent. Amavubi head coach Johnny McKinstry told Times Sport that the improvement is a good sign and a morale booster to players but it could have been better, had the recent CECAFA Cup games been considered. “If CECAFA Cup had been considered, we would have a better position,. However, the 10-slot improvement signals hope ahead of CHAN,” McKinstry said. At the recent CECAFA Cup Senior Challenge held from November 21 to December 5, 2015 in Ethiopia, Rwanda lost 1-0 to Uganda Cranes in the final. They played a total of six games, won four and lost two respectively. Rwanda stands second in CECAFA region, behind 62nd-placed Uganda who also rank 12th in Africa. Kenya is third (101), Burundi is fourth (110) and Ethiopia is fifth (118) while Tanzania comes sixth and 126th in the world. Rwanda’s Group A opponents in the upcoming Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) finals, Cote d’Ivoire rank top in Africa and 19th in the world, Morocco are 76th while Gabon are ranked 77th respectively. Top five in FIFA global rankings remained unchanged as Belgium maintained the top spot, followed by Argentina, Spain, Chile and Germany respectively.
