The Black Stars of Ghana are still counting the costs of a disastrous World Cup campaign after the latest FIFA ranking saw them slip to 38 in the world and drop out of Africa’s top four countries for the first time in almost six years.
Ghana gained only one point in Brazil amid bickering over money and infighting in camp.
The Ivory Coast also feel the pinch after being overtaken by Algeria as Africa’s top ranked team.
Four-time world champions Germany are reaping the rewards of their triumph at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ in this edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.
The World Cup final against Argentina was also a duel for the leading position in the world ranking – with Joachim Löw’s team coming out on top on both counts.
Germany lead the table for the first time in around 20 years, followed by Argentina and the Netherlands. The Oranje’s third-place finish at the World Cup has propelled them 12 positions up the table and back into the top ten.
All of the teams that exited the World Cup in the quarter-finals have climbed up the ranking: Colombia (4th, up 4), Belgium (5th, up 6), France (10th, up 7) and Costa Rica (16th, up 12 – the Ticos highest-ever ranking).
If the winners have gained, the less successful teams are left counting the cost of failure in their ranking positions.
Former champions Spain have fallen from the top spot to eighth place, while Portugal (11th, down 7), Italy (14th, down 5) and England (20th, down 10) have all dropped out of the top ten following their first-round exits. World Cup hosts Brazil, meanwhile, have dropped four places to seventh position.
The results of 111 international “A” matches have been taken into account for the current edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, of which 64 were played at the World Cup in Brazil, 46 were friendlies and one was a CONCACAF continental qualifier.
In this qualifier for the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2015, the Turks and Caicos Islands (181st, up 26) celebrated their first victory in over six years against the British Virgin Islands, lifting them off the bottom of the table.
The total number of international “A” matches taken into account so far this year is now 362.
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Source: Allsports.com.gh