Uganda drop in world football rankings

Sep 20, 2018

Uganda Cranes' last competitive match was in early September against neighbours Tanzania.

FOOTBALL

KAMPALA - Uganda have taken the slide in the latest FIFA world rankings, moving down one place from the 82nd spot to the 83th.

It is a similar drop margin on the continent -- slipping to 17th place from 16th.

Tunisia have remained at the top of Africa's rankings, having previously shared the top spot with Senegal, who now settle in second place.

DR Congo are in third, Morocco occupy fourth place while Nigeria take fifth spot in Africa.

In the new rankings updated by FIFA on Thursday, Belgium, who finished third in the 2018 World Cup, are joint-top of the world with winners France. It is the first time these two European footballing giants are occupying this dizzying spot together.

On the global table, there are no changes from spot three to spot nine -- in the order from above, Brazil, Croatia, Uruguay, England, Portugal, Switzerland and Spain have maintained their previous places.

Despite their slip, Uganda has maintained a considerable gulf with their fellow east African neighbours: Kenya in 107, Rwanda 137th, Tanzania 140th, Burundi 148th and South Sudan 158th.

The FIFA teams are ranked based on their game results.

Uganda Cranes' last competitive game was 12 days ago against Tanzania in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Kampala.

It was a dead rubber, as Frenchman Sébastien Desabre's Uganda were held by their east African neighbours in the Group L tie.

After two games, Uganda remain top of the group on four points, ahead of Lesotho (two), Tanzania (two) and Cape Verde (one).

Group L standings. (Source: Wikipedia)

The Cranes had played three international friendlies prior, losing 2-1 to Niger in June, drawing 0-0 against Malawi in March and beating Sao Tome and Principe 3-1 also in March.

In the race for a finals place in Cameroon, Desabre's side will next face Lesotho on October 10 at home, before battling the same side away three days later in the return leg.

SOME FAQS ABOUT FIFA RANKING

(Source: FIFA)

How are ranking points calculated?

Points are won on the basis of a number of specific criteria:
• Points for a win, draw or defeat (3, 1, 0)
• Status of match (multiplication factor of 1 to 4)
• Strength of opponent (multiplication factor of between 0.50 and 2.00)

• Strength of confederation in question (multiplication factor of between 0.85 and 1.00)

Who benefits from the revision?

Generally speaking, the biggest winners are the teams who win competitive matches, especially against high- ranking opponents. Draws secure only limited gains, particularly in friendly matches, while defeats do not bring any points.

Who loses out?

Teams who often lose or draw matches will get fewer points. Furthermore, any team that records a major victory (e.g. a continental championship title) will suffer losses in the ranking 12 months later if, by that time, it has not gained lots of points in more recent matches.

What happens to team that have not played enough?

If a team has played less than five matches in the preceding 12 months, its total for the year (e.g. for the three matches it has played) is simply divided by five.

Why do teams sometimes lose points even though they have not played?

The longer it is since a match was played, the less important it becomes for the ranking. This continues until, after four years, the match no longer has any impact on the calculation of the ranking. As a result, it is possible for teams to climb or fall in the ranking even if they have not played.

Why is the ranking not calculated exclusively on the basis of results in major competitions?

Because it would mean that small associations would not even make it into the ranking as they never qualify for the top events. Moreover, the statistics show that 50% of matches taken into account in the ranking between 2002-2005 were friendlies. These matches are also important for the nations hosting major championships since they do not usually have to take part in qualifiers.

Why does the calculation include a confederation weighting?

Matches between teams from different confederations (interconfederational matches) are relatively rare. The separate regions therefore retain the character of autonomous and relatively closed leagues that are only partially comparable with one another.

Also related to this story

AFCON 2019 Qualifiers: Uganda 0 Tanzania 0

France beat Croatia 4-2 to win World Cup