Bafana not improving much in the FIFA rankings. Image: Wikimedia
FIFA Ranking suggests Bafana Bafana are NOT improving
Bafana have always ranked between 60th and 70th in the in the past decade and that is unlikely to change unless they win more ‘big’ games.
Bafana not improving much in the FIFA rankings. Image: Wikimedia
Although Bafana Bafana have climbed four spots in the latest FIFA ranking, they are still in a familiar spot they found themselves 10 years ago.
The team has never been ranked in the top 50 since 2011 but came close during the Shakes Mashaba era when they went unbeaten during the 2015 African Cup Of Nations qualifiers.
This week, FIFA released the rankings, which sees Bafana rise 62 following their impressive 2-1 win over Morocco earlier this month.
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However, Hugo Broos’s men remain 12th in Africa which is a concern to a team that aims to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Bafana are unbeaten in seven games, winning five of them, but they hardly played any quality teams with the exception of Morocco.
The South African Football Association should start investing in junior teams and ensure that our under-17 and under-20 play regularly against top African teams and also against decent Europeans and South American teams. That will allow the youngsters to gel and get used to playing quality teams at a young age.
Bafana climbs to 62nd in the rankings
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All the top ranked African teams; Morocco(13), Tunisia (31), Algeria (33), Egypt (34), Nigeria (39), Cameroon (43) and Mali (50) are inside the world’s top 50 and have good junior squads and most of their players are based in Europe.
For Bafana to climb into the top 50, they need to win win their upcoming friendlies against top nations, and at least get to the semis of next year’s Afcon.
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A few draws and wins and an early Afcon exit will see Bafana remain in the ’60 zone’.
Morocco are still the number one ranked African side despite slipping down to 13th in the latest rankings.
World champions Argentina top the rankings, followed by France and Brazil.
