Bafana up 1 spot in FIFA rankings

Cape Town - South Africa have climbed one place to 77th in the world in the latest FIFA world rankings released on Thursday.

Bafana Bafana also moved up one place to 16th in Africa.

It's a far cry from the days when Bafana Bafana cracked the top 20 in the rankings (at 19th) after winning the 1996 African Cup of Nations.

Despite not having played a competitive fixture since dismally failing to qualify for the 2018 Soccer World Cup, Bafana made the move as the rankings are calculated over the previous four years.

Four of the top five African ranked teams have all qualified for Russia 2018 with Tunisia retaining the top spot, followed by Senegal, DR Congo, Morocco and Egypt.

DR Congo (88th, up 8) and Sudan (118th, up 6) are among the biggest climbers.

The global ranking remained the same with the top five consisting of World Cup holders Germany in top spot, followed by Brazil, Portugal, Argentina and Belgium.

The next FIFA World Ranking will be published on March 15 2018.

NEW #FIFARANKING

????Germany stay top ??
????Iceland reach record high??

More info ?? https://t.co/ap5dvgBeW9 pic.twitter.com/kQHHTSWHN6

— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) February 15, 2018