Ghana’s stunning loss to Sudan has had a negative effect on the nation’s standing on the
Fifa world rankings as the Black Stars have fallen down the pecking order by four.
Five days after registering a 2-0 home win over the Falcons in the 2022 Africa Cup of
Nations qualifiers, CK Akonnor’s side received a shock in the reverse fixture in Omdurman
as Mohamed Abdelrahman’s injury-time effort ensured a 1-0 triumph for the home side.
At the time, Ghana were ranked 48th on the world order while Sudan occupy the 128th
spot.
In the latest ranking, however, Ghana have moved down out of the Top 50 to 52nd on the
world. The Black Stars’ loss was Sudan’s gain as the latter moved up by one spot to the
127th position.
Ghana’s new position see them between Costa Rica (51) and Greece (53). At continental
level, the Black Stars have dropped down by two places from sixth to eighth, just ahead of
Mali (57) and Burkina Faso (58) in Africa’s Top 10.
Senegal (20), Tunisia (26) and Algeria (31), still lead the table on the continent, followed by Nigeria (35), Morocco (35), Egypt (49) and Cameroon (50).
Back on the world table, there was no change among the top six as Belgium still lead the
pack as the number one nation in the world, followed by France, Brazil, England, Portugal
and Spain.
Argentina moved one place up to seventh, displacing Uruguay one spot down to eighth.
Mexico (ninth) and Italy (tenth) each moved two places up to join the Top 10.
In November 2019, Ghana, then under the leadership of Kwasi Appiah, were placed 47th
on the rankings.
Ghana do not return to action until March 2021 when the next international break comes
around, their next set of games fixed against South Africa (away) and Sao Tome and
Principe (home) in the Afcon 2022 qualifiers.
Ghana’s highest-ever placing since the ranking’s introduction in August 1993 remains 14th
in February 2008, while their worst placement was an 89 position, reached in June 2004.
The next rankings will be released on December 10.
