Uganda improve in global football ranking

Oct 25, 2018

The Uganda Cranes have enjoyed recent back-to-back wins in the ongoing 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.

FOOTBALL

Uganda have climbed up four places to 79th in the latest FIFA World Rankings, following their back-to-back wins in the ongoing 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.

This month, the Cranes beat Lesotho home and away in a space of four days in Group L in a bid to secure a spot in next year's finals in Cameroon.

It is this performance that helped lift Uganda in the latest world listing, helping east Africa's footballing giants to an improved spot, up from 83rd place within just one month.

Uganda's neighbours Kenya, who have also had a bright Nations Cup qualification campaign so far, are also better-placed now, moving up two places to 105th.

Tanzania, who are in the same group as Uganda, also improved, scaling to 136th place, up from 140th.

While Rwanda (138) slipped by one place, Burundi made a huge stride of six places up to 142nd. South Sudan dropped by a place to 159th place.

Meanwhile, the Cranes are one point away from qualifying for the continent's biggest showpiece, which they can collect from a home game against Cape Verde mid-next month or from the return fixture against neighbours Tanzania in March next year.

Success here will see Sebastien Desabre's side qualify for a second consecutive AFCON finals following a lengthy dry spell that had seen the Cranes miss qualification for nearly four decades.

Ranking: Where are the BIG boys?

The world football hierarchy has 2018 World Cup semifinalists Belgium sitting neat and pretty at the dizzying summit ahead of winners France (2nd) and Brazil in third.

World Cup finalists Croatia (4th), semifinalists England (5th), Uruguay (6th), Portugal (7th), Switzerland (8th), Spain (9th) and Denmark (10th) follow.

Tunisia, in 22nd place, are Africa's top-ranked side.

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.