Gambia continue downward spiral in FIFA ranking
- Friday, 20 January 2012
- Written by Modou Lamin Beyai
The Scorpions of The Gambia have dropped down two places in the latest FIFA/Coca Cola world rankings released by world football’s governing body FIFA.
The list released on Wednesday show that the Scorpions have failed to arrest the downward spiral in the past few months and are now ranked 118th in the world rankings.
The Scorpions are ranked 29th in the CAF rankings and in the period under review, they played no competitive or friendly games and received no point in this month’s ranking. Within the past four years, the Scorpions scored just 271 points according to FIFA.
In the West African region, Cote d’Ivoire remains the highest ranked nation with a world ranking of 18 and first in Africa. They are followed by Ghana (26 in the world and 2 in Africa), Senegal (43 in the world and 5 in Africa), Nigeria (45 in the world and 6 in Africa), Cape Verde Islands (58 in the world and 9 in Africa), Sierra Leone (60 in the world and 11 in Africa), Burkina Faso (66 in the world and 14 in Africa), Mali (69 in the world and 15 in Africa), Guinea (79 in the world and 17 in Africa), Niger (98 in the world and 22 in Africa), Togo (100 in the world and 24 in Africa), Gambia (118 in the world and 29 in Africa), Liberia (123 in the world and 33 in Africa), Benin (136 in the world and 37 in Africa), Guinea-Bissau (162 in the world and 44 in Africa) and Mauritania who are bottom in the CAF rankings are ranked 204 in the world and 53 in Africa.
In a statement released on Wednesday, FIFA says, “There were very few changes to 2012’s first edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola world rankings as precious little football was played around the world. In fact, only 11 matches were taken into account, including six that were actually played in 2011.”
Ivory Coast are the highest ranked African nation on the rankings, they have a world ranking if 18. Ghana are second with a world ranking of 26. They are followed by Algeria (32), Egypt (36), Senegal (43), Nigeria (45), Cameroon (56), South Africa (56), Cape Verde Islands (58) and Tunisia (59).
The biggest losers are Gabon who dropped 14 places to land at 91 on the world rankings. Three countries each climbed nine places as the biggest climbers for the month. They are Saudi Arabia (87), Nicaragua (145) and DRC 116.
At the summit, world champions Spain continue to lead the way ahead of the Netherlands, Germany and Uruguay, who are still close together in the chasing pack.
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola Rankings will be released on 15 February 2012, two weeks before Gambia takes on Algeria in the 2013 African Cup of Nations Qualifiers.