Harambee Stars, the national men’s soccer team has moved two places up in the FIFA rankings released today.
Following their recent top performance, The Stars has moved from position 107 to 105 as they chase the first appearance at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after 14 years of long wait.
Kenya collected seven points in three AFCON qualifiers matches against Ghana’s Black Stars 1-0 win at Moi Sports Centre, Kasarani, a drew 0-0 away to Ethiopia’s Walya Antelope at Bahir Dar and a 3-0 thrashing in the return leg in the pool F encounter.
Under the tutelage of Sebastien Migne, the September results and rankings in terms of points have gone up saw them improve from 112 to 107 after clinching 22 points (17.9 from beating Ghana and 4.1 from defeating Malawi in an international friendly match also in Nairobi).
The latest round of results against Ethiopia has seen Harambee Stars add their points tally from 1204 to 1210. They are tied on 105th with Libya, who have dropped six places. Stars have also benefited from Niger’s slip-up. Niger suffered 1-0 and 2-1 defeats in the hands of Tunisia.
Migne has led Stars in 10 games; 6 wins, 3 losses and one draw since taking charge on May 3, 2018.
In Cecafa, Uganda still tops the Fifa chart at position 79 thanks to 3-0 and 2-0 wins against Lesotho in AFCON qualifiers. Like Kenya, Uganda also lead the race to reach Cameroon in 2019 in Group “L”. The Ugandans have improved four places in the global rankings.
Tanzania, which is in the same group with Uganda and currently placed second in that group, has jumped four places to 136th after shocking number 67 ranked Cape Verde.
Cape Verde are now in position 68 after succumbing to a 2-0 loss in Dar es Salaam on October 16. Sudan have dropped from 132 to 135.
They remain third in Cecafa, followed by Rwanda, who are on the verge on exiting the race to be
Tunisia continue to lead the table in Africa at position 22 in the world. The Tunisians, who have improved their place by one spot and are already through to next year’s Afcon in Cameroon, are followed by Senegal, who are also through.
Senegal remain 25th globally. The Democratic Republic of Congo are out of the top 40 after losing 2-1 and drawing 1-1 against Zimbabwe in mid-October.
There are three changes in the top 10 teams in the world, with Belgium still on top. World champions France have dropped to second place, having jointly held top spot with Belgium last month.
Brazil and Croatia stay third and fourth respectively. England has moved up one place to fifth and pushed Uruguay to sixth.