Football

Kenya drops to 108 in latest FIFA rankings, Somalia sink below 200

Harambee Stars training in Malawi © Harambee Stars

By Michael Kirwa | Thursday, June 20, 2024

Morocco is the highest ranked African nation at position 12 globally

Kenya has dropped one place in the latest FIFA Rankings released today, falling from 107 to 108.

In the previous ranking released in April 2024, Kenya had risen from 111 to 107 after dominating the Four Nations Friendly football tournament in March during which Harambee Stars defeated tournaments hosts Malawi 4-0 in the semifinals before beating Zimbabwe 3-1 in the final to win the competition.

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However, Harambee Stars failed to build on that high in the June FIFA window when they were held to a 1-1 draw by lowly Burundi before playing out to a goalless draw with Ivory Coast during the two 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers matches they played in the period under review.

On their part, Burundi remained 140 as Ivory Coast rose one position up to 37. After drawing 1-1 with Harambee Stars, Burundi went on to win 3-1 away to Seychelles in another 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier match but those two impressive results for a country of their stature did little to boost their rankings.

Ivory Coast had won 1-0 in their home 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier match against Gabon before the 0-0 draw away to Harambee Stars. Despite being the reigning African Champions, Ivory Coast are still behind the continent's top teams as indicated in the latest classification.

Morocco, who rose from 13 to 12, are Africa's highest ranked team. They are followed by Senegal who are now ranked 18th having dropped from 17th. Seven-time African champions Egypt are the continent's third-highest place team having risen from 37 to 36. AFCON 2024 champions Ivory Coast are fourth in the continent.

The top 10 remains unchanged with only a few countries exchanging positions. The top three remains the same with world champions Argentina remaining in first place followed by 2018 World Cup winners France and Belgium.

Brazil and England exchanged position with the South Americans rising to 4th and the Europeans dropping to 5th.

Portugal, Netherlands and Spain remained ranked 6th, 7th, and 8th respectively as Croatia and Italy traded places with the latter dropping to 10th and former rising to 9th.

In the CECAFA region, the area's highest ranked country remains Uganda who are 94th in the new rankings having dropped eight places from 86.

Kenya still holds second place in the region with Tanzania not far behind. Tanzania are currently 114th having risen five places up from 119.

Sudan realised the biggest improvement in their ranking and but they remain the region's fourth best team despite moving six places up from 127 to 121.

Rwanda, like their neighbours Burundi, did not realise a change in their position as they remained 131. Burundi follow Rwanda in the CECAFA region at position 140, three places higher than Ethiopia who improved from 145 to 143.

South Sudan also did not experience a change in their position as they remained 167.

Djibouti dropped one place to 193 while Somalia sunk below the 200 mark having dropped from 199 to 202.

Eritrea, who have not played international football in over one year, were not ranked.

Kenya does not play international football again until the end of this month when they feature in the 2024 COSAFA Cup. However, it is unlikely if those matches will influence their ranking as they are not considered International "A" matches.