September 15, 2017 Sahr Morris Jnr
Sierra Leone men’s national team has plummeted 21 places down from 76th to 97th in the latest FIFA rankings for September 2017.
The country now sits behind the likes of Kenya, Iraq, Palestine, Faroe Islands, and this came just days after the home-based team exited this year’s WAFU Cup of Nations knockout, following a 2-0 defeat to Nigeria’s home-based Eagles at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium.
They were also eliminated from the CHAN preliminary qualifiers in Dakar against Senegal 4-2 on aggregate in July.
The Leone Stars, who amassed only 366 from their previous 448 points, have also dropped from the 16th best team on the continent to 24th.
Meanwhile, Cape Verde are the largest movers overall in this month’s Fifa World Rankings as they climbed a total of 47 places.
The Blue Sharks two victories over South Africa in 2018 World Cup qualifying has seen them moved from 114 to 67 globally and 13th in Africa.
Despite falling five places overall, Egypt are still the highest ranked nation on the continent.
The Pharaohs are just one place ahead of North African rivals Tunisia.
Tunisia replaces DR Congo as the second-ranked side in Africa after the Carthage Eagles beat the Leopards and drew with them in 2018 qualifying.
DR Congo also down 4 places globally down to fourth on the continent behind third-placed Senegal.
Germany once again has returned to the number one side in the world ahead of Brazil for top spot.
Africa’s top ten on September’s Fifa rankings – global ranking in brackets:
Egypt (30) Tunisia (31) Senegal (33) DR Congo (42) Nigeria (44) Cameroon (45) Burkina Faso (49) Ghana (52) Ivory Coast (54) Morocco (56)