The 2022 World Cup semi-finalists, Morocco, have been ranked as the best men’s football side in Africa, and number 13 globally.
The latest FIFA ranking places Senegal second in Africa and number 18 in the world.
Algeria is third on the continent and number 33 globally, while Egypt is fourth in Africa and number 34 in the world.
Nigeria, which rounds out Africa’s top five football sides, is ranked number 39 in the world.
Cameroon follows at position six in Africa and number 43 globally, Mali (seventh in Africa; 50th globally), Côte d'Ivoire (eighth in Africa; 51st globally), Burkina Faso (ninth in Africa; 55th in the world) and Ghana (tenth in Africa; 59th in the world).
South Africa comes in at position 11 in Africa and 62nd in the world, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (69th in the world), Guinea (80th globally), Zambia (84th), Gabon (85th), Equatorial Guinea (91st), Uganda (92nd), Benin (93rd), Mauritania (99th) and Kenya (105th), rounding out Africa’s 20 best football sides, according to the latest ranking.
The only better sides
Morocco was only bettered by Argentina, France, Brazil, England, Belgium, Croatia, Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Spain, USA and Switzerland respectively.
The North African side made history in 2022 by becoming the first African team to reach the semi-final stage of the men’s FIFA World Cup tournament.
They lost 2-0 to France in the semis of the global competition held in Qatar.
En route to the semi-final, Morocco had slayed strong football teams such as Belgium (group stage), Spain (Round of 16) and Portugal (quarter-final).
In their match against Belgium, Morocco beat the star-studded team 2-0, while in their subsequent encounter against Spain, the African side triumphed 3-0 in post-match penalties after a goalless draw in regulation time.
Against Portugal in the quarter-final, Morocco grabbed a 1-0 victory to qualify for the World Cup semis, a first one in Africa’s history.
In the previous FIFA ranking published in December, Morocco was placed at position 11, following the team’s heroics at the World Cup tournament in Qatar.
