Aston Lukoye
World football governing body FIFA has released its latest FIFA rankings, which reveal that Harambee Stars, Kenya’s national football team, has dropped from position 101 to 102.
The dip in ranking comes after the team, which is currently under the management of Engin Firat, suffered a 2-1 loss to Iran in an international friendly match that took place last month in Tehran. This was Harambee Stars’ first outing since November 2021, and the defeat likely contributed to the team’s decline in the rankings.
Argentina are back at the summit of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking for the first time in over six years.
The world champions (1st, up 1) leapfrogged Brazil (3rd, down 2) after enjoying friendly wins over Panama and Curaçao at the same time as their old rivals were losing to Morocco. France (2nd, up 1) also moved past the Brazilians after beating the Netherlands and Republic of Ireland in their opening UEFA EURO qualifiers.
Continental competitions have been responsible for much of this month’s Ranking movement. Serbia (25th, up 4), Scotland (36th, up 6) and Romania (46th, up 6) made significant gains on the back of notable EURO successes, Algeria (34th, up 6) and Egypt (35th, up 4) profited from wins in CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, and Canada (47th, up 6) entered the top 50 after back-to-back Concacaf Nations League victories.
The biggest climbers of all were Central African Republic (122nd, up 10), who enjoyed a double-digit rise on the back of successive wins that have left them well placed to qualify for a first-ever AFCON.
But while Namibia (106th, up 7), Malaysia (138th, up 7), and Gambia (120th, up 6) also enjoyed a month to remember, Cameroon (42nd, down 9) endured the most significant drop after picking up just one point from a possible six in a double-header against the Namibians.
