Bafana Bafana slide down on FIFA rankings despite securing 2026 FIFA World Cup spot

FIFA have released the latest world rankings and they are based on the recent international matches window.

It is a period which saw Bafana Bafana qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after playing to a draw 0-0 with Zimbabwe and beating Rwanda 3-0. 

Hugo Broos' men are placed 10th in Africa and interestingly, Mali and Cameroon, who didn't qualify for the World Cup directly, are better ranked than them. 

In the global rankings, Bafana dropped four places to sit at number 59 in the world. 

They would want to improve on that in the upcoming results for better seeding ahead of the FIFA World Cup draw.

Morocco remain the top-ranked team in Africa and they are 12th in the world. 

They are followed by Senegal, who are 18th globally and and both teams have qualified for the World Cup.

Egypt, Algeria and Nigeria are third, fourth and fifth on the continent, respectively, while the Ivory Coast and Tunisia follow.

Mali, Cameroon and Bafana complete the top-10 CAF teams as ranked by the world football governing body. 

After the recent World Cup qualifiers, Bafana and other African teams now switch focus to the 2025 AFCON.

This is a tournament that has a huge influence on the FIFA rankings and South Africa will be pushing to move to the top of the list on the continent.