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Harambee Stars drop four places in latest FIFA rankings after disappointing AFCON qualifiers

Football

By Robert Abong'o | Oct 24, 2024

Harambee Stars captain Michael Olunga with team mates during training at The Police Sacco Stadium ahead of FIFA World Cup Qualifier matches against Burundi and Ivory Coast to be played in Malawi. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Kenya’s national football team, Harambee Stars, has slipped four places in the latest FIFA rankings following a poor performance in their October matches.

The rankings, released by FIFA on Thursday, October 24, saw Kenya drop from 102nd to 106th globally, after back-to-back defeats against Cameroon in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers. The Stars lost 4-1 in Yaoundé before suffering another 1-0 defeat in Kampala.

Regionally, Uganda remains the top-ranked East African nation at 87th in the world, while Kenya follows in second place within the region. Sudan, at 110th globally, is third. In Africa, Morocco continues to dominate, rising one place to rank 13th in the world. The Atlas Lions solidified their position as Africa’s top team after an impressive showing in their recent qualifiers, including a 4-0 victory over the Central African Republic.

Morocco's rise, fueled by their consistent performances and strong victories in the qualifiers, underscores their growing stature. They have now become a formidable force on both the African continent and the global stage, as demonstrated by their recent semi-final appearance in the 2022 World Cup. Following Morocco in the African rankings are Senegal, Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria, and Ivory Coast.

Senegal, the former African champions, slipped to 20th in the global rankings, while Egypt sits at 30th. Ivory Coast, the reigning AFCON champions, saw a significant drop, falling seven places to 40th in the world, despite their continental triumph.

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Globally, Argentina, France, and Spain continue to hold the top three spots in the rankings, followed by England and Brazil. However, some lower-ranked African teams made notable progress. Equatorial Guinea rose to 88th (up six places), Zimbabwe moved to 117th (up seven places), The Gambia climbed to 128th (up seven places), and Botswana surged to 140th (up seven places), making the largest overall points gain.

Botswana’s 38.30 points gain was particularly remarkable, reflecting their steady improvement. Meanwhile, Comoros also impressed, climbing 10 spots to reach 108th after two victories over Tunisia in their AFCON qualifiers.

Elsewhere in Europe, Italy gained one position, moving up to 9th after a 2-2 draw with Belgium and a 4-1 win over Israel in the Nations League. The Azzurri leapfrogged Colombia to reclaim their place in the top 10.

FIFA’s rankings are calculated using the ELO system, which factors in the result, match importance, team strength, and expected outcome. Teams gain or lose points based on these variables, reflecting the overall competitiveness and performance of teams across different competitions.