Friday, February 13th, 2015
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast and Australia both leapt up the Fifa rankings after winning the Africa Cup of Nations and Asian Cup respectively, while tiny Equatorial Guinea moved into the top 50 for the first time.
Equatorial Guinea, who hosted the Afcon, leapt 69 places and is joint 49th with Congo after surpassing expectations and reaching the semifinals, albeit in controversial style.
Ivory Coast moved up eight places to 20th although Algeria, the team they beat in the quarterfinals, remain Africa’s best-placed team in 18th. Runners-up Ghana moved up 12 places to 25th.
Australia climbed 37 places to 63rd, although the rankings still make embarrassing reading for Asia with Iran (41st) as the region’s only representatives in the top 50. Next best are South Korea (54th) and Japan (55th).
There was no change in the top five where Germany lead followed by Argentina, Colombia, Belgium and Netherlands.
Fifa rankings:
1. Germany
2. Argentina
3. Colombia
4. Belgium
5. Netherlands
6. Brazil
7. Portugal
8. France
9. Uruguay
10. Spain
Reuters