The Teranga Lions of Senegal have emerged as top African team in the November release of the FIFA rankings by world football’s governing body.
The Senegalese moved past last month’s leaders Côte d’Ivoire to snatch first place, followed by the Ivorians and then the Tunisians in third.
Senegal appear in 33rd place overall as the best ranked national from the continent, but they are under heavy pressure for that position as both defending AFCON champions Côte d’Ivoire and the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia are in 34th.
Algeria and Ghana will be disappointed with their desperately poor form, which has led to them falling from third and fifth respectively in October to fifth and ninth this month.
Egypt moved up a massive 10 places this month to feature in fourth place and 36th spot overall, while the Democratic Republic of Congo secured sixth place on the continent in position 47.
The biggest gain of the African top 10 went to Burkina Faso, earning a phenomenal 17-place boost up the rankings to reach 50 overall and seventh in Africa.
Closing out the top 10 are the Super Eagles of Nigeria in eighth, having mastered a number of excellent results to secure a 10-position increase, followed by the Black Stars of Ghana in ninth after an eight-place decline and Morocco as the tenth best nation from the continent.
With Mali and Cameroon falling out of the top 10 this month, they will be desperate to make a return to the pinnacle of the African list in upcoming months, allowing them to appease their fans and improve their prospects for future tournament draws that use the rankings as a basis for seedings.
South Africa’s Bafana Bafana are knocking on the top 10 door, three positions away from Morocco in tenth, and their 2-1 victory over top ranked Senegal in a World Cup qualifier this month will no doubt count in their favour as they aim to surge up the rankings going forward.