Fifa rankings: Kenya rises to top 100 in six years
PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO Harambee Stars players sing the National Anthem from the bench on July 15, 2014 before their friendly match against Burundi at Nyayo Stadium. Kenya has climbed to position 95 in the current Fifa rankings.
What you need to know:
- According to the latest rankings released by the World governing body, Harambee Stars has now jumped 13 places to position 95 out of the Federation's 208 member nations.
- World Champions Germany are the top ranked team, a feat that has been achieved through their heroics of beating Brazil, Argentina and France enroute to clinching their fourth Woreld Cup title last Sunday.
The national football team has moved into the top 100 positions on the monthly FIFA rankings for the first time in six years.
According to the latest rankings released by the World governing body, Harambee Stars has now jumped 13 places to position 95 out of the Federation's 208 member nations.
Stars improvement is directly linked to the successful outing in the ongoing 2015 Africa Nations Cup qualifiers, where Adel Amrouche's team defeated lowly Comoros in the first round of the competition last month.
Kenya has also immensely benefited from nations like Botswana, New Zealand, Niger and Moldova, who dropped crucial points after losing matches or failing to feature in any competitively recognized matches during the past month.
The Harambee Stars - who will this weekend take on Lesotho in Maseru in the qualifiers to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations - have been below position 100 since 2008 when the team was ranked 74th during the qualifiers to the 2010 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations.
MORE TO BE DONE
The move to the top 100 will not only be a big boost to the team ahead of the qualifier against Lesotho - who are currently on position 131 in the world - but will also leave them with 25 more places to rise to reach the coveted top 70 which will open the doors for Kenyan players to move directly to the top European clubs should they get a chance.
Three years ago, Kenya’s top midfielder MacDonald Mariga was denied work permit to play for Manchester City owing to Kenya’s low rankings.
“It (the rise) is good for the country, but more still needs to be done for Kenya to move up. The team must work hard to qualify to the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco and at the same time the federation must also organise high profile friendlies which add to the rankings,” says former Harambee Stars captain Musa Otieno.
Uganda remains the highest ranked team in the East and Central Africa region at position 87 with Kenya now the second ranked in the Cecafa region followed by Tanzania at 106, Rwanda at 109, Ethiopia at 110 and Sudan on position 115.
World Champions Germany are the top ranked team, a feat that has been achieved through their heroics of beating Brazil, Argentina and France enroute to clinching their fourth World Cup title last Sunday.
Argentina, Netherlands, Colombia and Divock Origi's Belgium are ranked from 2nd to fifth place respectively.
Algeria at position 24, are Africa's highest ranked team, ahead of Ivory Coast (25), Nigeria (34), Egypt (36) and Tunisia (42) in that order.
