Sihlangu move up in rankings
MBABANE- The National team, Sihlangu, is celebrating a slight improvement on the global charts.
Dominic Kunene’s troops have moved one place up in the FIFA rankings.
According to the October rankings released yesterday, Sihlangu is ranked 143rd in the updated rankings.
This shows an improvement as opposed to the rankings which were released in August this year. According to the August charts, they were ranked 144th.
The Lindo Mkhonta captained side charges however are still ranked 43rd in Africa. They are ahead of Lesotho, Botswana and Liberia, who are on positions 44, 45 and 46 respectively.
Leading the African continent rankings are Senegal, with Morocco coming second. Third are Tunisia and Nigeria on the fourth spot with Algeria completing the top five.
Leaders
The world leaders are Brazil followed by Belgium with Argentina coming third. Sihlangu’s best ranking was climbing up to position 88 while their worst ranking was 190.
Efforts to get comments from Sihlangu Coach Dominic Kunene were futile as he was not immediately reached.
The improved ranking might have been caused by the activity in the COSAFA Cup where they managed to beat Lesotho 2-1 and Mauritius 3-0.
Meanwhile, rankings are essential in a football nation, as they help in seeding during draws of major competitions like the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and World Cup qualifiers. Better-ranked countries usually avoid the first hurdle of the qualifiers. 143 144 144 143 147
RANKINGS THIS YEAR
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