Stars soar to 86th in latest Fifa rankings, Argentina top
Kenya recorded the highest jump in the latest Coca-Cola FIFA World Rankings for June released on Thursday with Harambee Stars shooting up a massive 43 places to 86th, the highest placing since 2008.
The gritty 2-1 victory over Congo Brazzaville in the 2017 Afcon qualifiers saw Stanley Okumbi’s side land inside the top 100 for the first time in six months as beaten Copa America finalists, Argentina still leading the global chats.
New Zealand emerged as the month’s biggest climbers, moving 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.
Victory against Congo on June 5 in Okumbi’s first win since he took charge in February gifted Kenya a massive 892.5 ranking points as the team rose from 129th in the previous list.
Stars last sat in the top 100 in February when they were placed 99th and it is their best position January 2008 when they attained their highest placing of 68th.
Kenya are preparing to face Zambia in their final clash of their doomed 2017 Afcon campaign in Lusaka in September with the Chipolopolo, who are the 2012 continental champions, sliding down to 88th after Stars victory over Congo confirmed their elimination as well.
Argentina remain at the summit of the July FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, 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 OFC 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, moving 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 11 August 2016.
Additional material from Fifa.com
Top 10
1 Argentina 1585
2 Belgium 1401
3 Colombia 1331
4 Germany 1319
5 Chile 1316
6 Portugal 1266
7 France 1189
8 Spain 1165
9 Brazil 1156
10 Italy 1155
CAF
32 Algeria 781
35 Côte d’Ivoire 751
36 Ghana 749
41 Senegal 651
43 Egypt 632
45 Tunisia 627
53 Cameroon 575
54 Morocco 574
59 Congo DR 555
61 Mali 546
86 Kenya 276
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