Fifa Rankings: Kenya move up, Uganda and Tanzania stagnate

Kenya have moved up by a position while Uganda and Tanzania’s positions remain unchanged in the latest Fifa rankings released on Thursday.

Harambee Stars are now in position 106 from their previous 107 and the improvement comes after a 1-1 draw they played against Togo in Nairobi in the battle of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) slot.

Uganda remain the highly-ranked Cecafa region – a position they have enjoyed for the better part of the previous rankings – although they have stagnated in position 77.

Tanzania – the participants in the January 2021 African Nations Championship (Chan) -  have also not seen any change in the global rankings. The Etienne Ndayiragije side is 134th, sandwiched between the Comoros – Kenya’s Afcon qualification rivals - at 133rd place and Myanmar in position 135.

Rwanda - who are expected to battle with neighbours Uganda and Kenya in the second round of the Caf World Cup qualification – have dropped by a position and are now placed at 132.

Ethiopia are 146, Burundi are in position 149 while Somalia, who are yet to qualify for any international competition and will face Cameroon in October for a friendly ahead of Uganda's Afcon qualifier, are in position 197.

The latest rankings have been released six months after the initial one due to the coronavirus pandemic that saw the majority of football action suspended before some resumed under strict guidelines.

Fifa came up with a new way of testing, analysing and calculating the rankings that were first implemented in August 2018 after approval by the Fifa Council.

The new model relies on adding/subtracting points won or lost for a game to/from the previous points total rather than averaging game points over a given time period as in the previous version of the world ranking.

The points which are added or subtracted are partially determined by the relative strength of the two opponents, including the logical expectation that teams higher in the ranking should fare better against teams lower in the ranking.

Kenya are with Egypt, Comoros and Togo in Group G while in the World Cup qualifiers, they are in the same pool as Rwanda, Uganda and Mali in Group E.

Uganda are in Group B alongside Burkina Faso, Malawi and South Sudan in the Afcon qualifiers.

The Cranes and Burkina Faso are on six points each, Malawi are on three points while South Sudan are without a point.

Tanzania are in Group J with Tunisia, Libya, and Equatorial Guinea and have three points as they chase another Afcon slot after participating in the 2019 edition.