Rwanda jumps three spots in Fifa rankings

RWANDA has jumped three places up in the latest Federation of International Football Association (Fifa) ranking released on Thursday.The country was ranked 131st in the world up from 134th last month.The slight improvement came just after Amavubi Stars failed to make it to the 2014 CHAN qualifiers following a 6-5 penalty defeat at the hands of Ethiopia after a one-all aggregate draw last month.On the African continent, Rwanda is ranked 38th while in the Cecafa region, it remains lowly ranked, in fifth spot. Uganda continued to top the region in the monthly international rankings, and is 16th in Africa and 77th globally, improving three places.Ethiopia, who ensured Rwanda will not be at the 2014 CHAN finals in South Africa, is 27th in Africa and 102nd globally after slipping seven places.Burundi dropped six places to 126th worldwide and 34th in Africa; Tanzania slipped seven places to 128th overall and 35th in Africa, while Kenya, the fourth-best ranked in the Cecafa region slipped six places to 129th and 36th in the world and Africa, respectively.Malawi which plays Rwanda in a Fifa international friendly match next week dropped ten places to 118th in the world and 33rd in Africa.Ivory Coast remains the best-ranked African side at 18th in the world after dropping five places. Ghana, second in Africa, remained unmoved in 24th position in the world.Mali, ranked third in Africa, dropped two places globally to 32nd while their opponents in the final Group H 2014 World Cup qualifier Algeria remained unmoved in 4th in Africa and 34th in the world.The top 12 of the Fifa/Coca-Cola World Ranking remain unchanged, with Spain still in top spot ahead of Germany, Colombia, Argentina and the Netherlands in that order.Movement on the global ladder was not affected by the just-concluded Concacaf Gold Cup – the continental showpiece comprising of North and Central America and the Caribbean national teams – which took place in the US last month, according to Fifa. The Fifa/Coca-Cola World Ranking is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month: the first edition was published in August 1993.The next Fifa/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 12 September 2013.

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Rwanda jumps three spots in Fifa rankings