Bafana Bafana up 1 spot in FIFA rankings

Cape Town - South Africa have climbed one place to 76th in the latest FIFA world rankings released on Thursday.

Bafana Bafana also moved up one place to 15th in Africa.

It's a far cry from the glory days when 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 failing dismally to qualify for the 2018 Soccer World Cup in Russia, Bafana made the move as the rankings are calculated over a rolling four-year period.

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

DR Congo, ranked third in Africa and 39th in the world, will not be in Russia.

Nigeria, currently seventh in Africa and 52nd in the world, are the fifth and final African team to have qualified for the June/July spectacle.

The Top 5 in the rankings remained the same with World Cup holders Germany in top spot, followed by Brazil, Portugal, Argentina and Belgium.

The next FIFA world rankings will be published on April 12, 2018.