In the previous ranking released on June 2, Tanzania had been positioned 136th after having collected 261 points.
The country’s senior national soccer team, Taifa Stars, have experienced unimpressive results in their recent international matches, in which they conceded a 2-0 loss to Egypt in the 2017 AFCON qualifiers and later managed a 1-1 draw with Kenya in an international friendly.
Stars’ hopes of qualifying for the 2017 AFCON finals, to be hosted by Gabon, were all but over when they lost to Egypt in the group G game played at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on June 4.
The defeat left Stars at the bottom of the group G with just one point from three games, managing one draw and losing two. The team will take on Nigeria in the last and formality duel of the qualifiers at the latter’s venue in September.
In the international friendly match against Kenya, played at the Moi Kasarani, on May 29, Stars went ahead through striker, Elias Maguli, and the hosts then drew level from a spot kick converted by Kenyan international, Victor Wanyama. Taifa Stars is under coach Charles Mkwasa.
Uganda still leads the rest of the countries in the East African region, placed 69th, having moved three places up. Kenya has been positioned 86th, whereas Rwanda is in the 111th position.
Argentina remain at the summit of rankings, but only after a tumultuous month of action that resulted in plenty of movement further down.
The impact of three recent major international tournaments – the Nations Cup, Copa America Centenario and UEFA EURO 2016 – is certainly plain to see in a table in which Kosovo are ranked for the first time.
A total of 228 ‘A’ internationals contributed to the new order, with those big events in Oceania, Europe and the Americas especially important in propelling nations upwards.
New Zealand emerged as the month’s biggest climbers, scaling up a whopping 54 places to 93rd on the back of an OFC Nations Cup victory that both qualified the All Whites for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and furthered their FIFA World Cup qualifying ambitions.
Portugal will also be heading to Russia 2017 after their shock EURO 2016 triumph, an achievement that resulted in them leapfrogging Spain and Brazil into sixth position.
There was also some small consolation for France, Portugal’s vanquished final opponents, who were among several teams to profit from impressive EURO campaigns.
While Les Bleus climbed ten places to a new position of seventh, Poland rose 11 to 16th and there were 12-place jumps for both Iceland and Croatia, who now sit 22nd and 15th respectively. Surprise semi-finalists Wales fared better still, picking up 291 ranking points – this month’s biggest tally - to advance 15 positions to 11th.
The Icelanders, meanwhile, are one of five teams to have reached their best-ever position in this latest table, along with Guinea-Bissau (75th, plus 40), St Kitts and Nevis (80th, plus 12), Kazakhstan (97th, plus 15) and Comoros (155th, plus 7).
Yet despite all this activity, the ranking’s top five remains unchanged, with Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, Germany and Chile – all of whom reached the latter stages of their respective tournaments – doing enough to hold off the pretenders below.
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on August 11
Post a Comment