The two losses to Rwanda and Uganda at the Cecafa championships in Tanzania saw the national team, the Warriors, drop to 98 in the latest Fifa/Coca Cola world football rankings released yesterday.
Zimbabwe lost 2-0 to Rwanda and 1-0 to Uganda to fall 28 places on the world rankings and end the year in 24th place in Africa. The Warriors were ranked 70th in the world and 16th in Africa in November.
Ivory Coast remained Africa’s top team at No 16, with Mexico ranked highest in the Concacaf teams at No 21. Japan at No 19 took the honours for Asia, with New Zealand at No 119 the best of Oceania’s teams.
Spain were named Team of the Year by Fifa after finishing at the top of the world rankings for the fourth straight year. The Netherlands remained second, ahead of Germany, Uruguay and England.
Bosnia-Herzegovina moved up three places to an all-time high of 20, while Panama (49), Estonia (57) and American Samoa (186) also hit best-ever positions.
American Samoa’s 18-place climb was down to the tiny Pacific state’s first World Cup qualifying win. Wales were the highest climber of 2011, gaining 64 places to No 48 by the end of the year.
Caf rankings (top 25 ) (Africa ranking, world ranking) Ivory Coast 1, 16 Ghana 2, 29 Algeria 3, 30 Egypt 4, 31 Nigeria 5, 43 Senegal 6, 44 Cameroon 7, 50 South Africa 8, 52 Cape Verde Islands 9, 58 Tunisia 10, 59 Sierra Leone 11, 60 Morocco 12, 61 Burkina Faso 13, 62 Libya 14, 63 Mali 15, 67 Gabon 16, 77 Zambia 17, 79 Guinea 18, 80 Angola 19, 83 Uganda 20, 89 Malawi 21, 94 Botswana 22, 95 Niger 23, 97 Zimbabwe 24, 98 Togo 25, 101
