Soccer News of Wednesday, 19 October 2005

Source: --

Ghana moves up in FIFA rankings

Ghana has shot up 11 places in the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA)/Coca Cola monthly World Rankings, two weeks after securing her first ever World Cup qualification.

The ranking, which was release by FIFA on Wednesday placed Ghana at the 51st position having occupied the 62th position for the past month. Ghana, one of Africa's representative at the FIFA World Cup in Germany next year has also moved two places up in the African rankings. Ghana now occupies the tenth position in Africa, according to a correspondence sent to the secretariat of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) on Wednesday morning.

The dramatic rise is as a result of the impressive performance of Ghana in the World Cup/Africa qualifying series that saw the nation coming on tops of their group made up of South Africa, DR. Congo, Uganda and Cape Verde Islands.

World Cup holders Brazil remain in first place in the latest world football rankings issued by FIFA.

Uruguay, Ghana and Wales are the biggest movers of the month whereas Ghana, alongside two other African World Cup contenders Togo and Tunisia, are the most successful teams this year, each of whom are potential winners of the Best Mover of the Year title.

Brazil lead with 840 points from the Netherlands (797) and the Czechs, who have 783, having swapped positions with Argentina, now fourth on 778 points.

France (776), Mexico (769), the United States (768), Spain (764), Portugal and England (754 each) complete the top 10.

Next year's World Cup host Germany follow in 15th place with 712 points in the list which takes into account national team games over a 12-month period.

- The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 23 November 2005

1 Brazil 0 840 1
2 Netherlands 0 797 12
3 Czech Republic 1 783 6
4 Argentina -1 778 0
5 France 1 776 6
6 Mexico -1 769 -2
7 USA 0 768 0
8 Spain 0 764 14
9 England 2 754 16
9 Portugal 0 754 11
11 Turkey 1 743 12
12 Italy 1 736 11
13 Sweden -3 733 -7
14 Denmark 0 730 9
15 Germany 0 712 -6
16 Japan 0 711 -5
17 Uruguay 8 709 29
18 Greece 2 706 7
19 Croatia 5 702 16
20 Costa Rica -1 700 0
21 Iran -3 699 -3
21 Republic of Ireland 0 699 5
23 Cameroon -1 691 3
23 Colombia 3 691 14
23 Nigeria 6 691 19
23 Poland -6 691 -14
27 Tunisia -4 689 2
28 Romania 4 681 21
29 Korea Republic -3 680 3
30 Russia 0 671 2
31 Saudi Arabia -3 670 -5
32 Egypt -1 667 5
33 Paraguay 1 664 8
34 Senegal 1 663 11
35 Morocco 1 659 10
36 Ecuador -3 655 -3
37 Norway 0 653 6
38 Switzerland 0 644 1
39 Ukraine 0 636 0
40 Honduras 3 626 6
40 Jamaica 1 626 3
42 Serbia and Montenegro 6 623 22
43 Israel 1 622 6
44 Finland -4 619 -10
45 Slovakia 0 618 5
46 Bulgaria -1 616 3
46 South Africa -4 616 -6
48 C?te d'Ivoire 2 611 18
49 Belgium -2 606 -2
49 Togo 5 606 21
51 Ghana 11 599 33
52 Zimbabwe -3 598 0
53 Trinidad and Tobago 3 596 19
54 Australia -4 594 1
55 Bahrain -2 593 5
56 Guatemala 1 582 11
57 Uzbekistan 0 581 10
58 Mali -3 576 -2
58 Zambia 6 576 13
60 Angola 5 573 11
61 Slovenia -9 571 -19
62 Scotland 12 570 28
63 Peru 7 567 16
64 Latvia -1 564 0
65 China PR -5 563 -6
66 Hungary 0 562 5
67 Iraq 1 561 7
67 Kuwait -6 561 -6
69 Bosnia-Herzegovina -2 560 5
70 Belarus 1 559 11
71 Venezuela -14 557 -14
72 Chile 4 556 18
73 Wales 9 555 34
74 Austria 5 550 17
75 Congo DR -3 548 3
76 Cuba -3 545 1
77 Qatar -2 543 2
78 Jordan -9 537 -15
78 Panama -2 537 -1
80 Oman -2 536 -1
81 Estonia 0 535 9
82 Algeria 1 526 7
82 Guinea 7 526 22
84 Libya -4 519 -13
85 Albania 1 517 3
86 Canada -2 514 -2
86 Korea DPR -1 514 -1
88 Burkina Faso 1 508 4
89 United Arab Emirates -1 507 -1
90 Kenya -3 504 -5
91 Haiti 0 498 -2
92 Iceland 0 491 -2
93 FYR Macedonia 3 490 15
94 Sudan -1 486 -5
95 Singapore 4 477 3
96 Bolivia 4 476 7
97 Lithuania -2 475 -1
98 Indonesia -2 472 -3
99 Botswana -3 463 -12
100 Georgia 4 462 1
101 Thailand -7 461 -24
102 Gabon 3 459 -1
103 Cyprus 0 457 -5
104 Northern Ireland -3 451 -13
105 Malawi 3 450 18
105 Rwanda 1 450 -6
107 Syria -5 447 -16
108 Moldova -1 441 5
109 Armenia 6 437 29
110 Uganda 0 436 13
111 Turkmenistan -2 415 -13
112 Congo 1 414 -1
113 Vietnam -1 413 -4
114 Azerbaijan 0 406 -5
115 Malaysia 1 405 -1
116 New Zealand -5 404 -16
117 St. Lucia 0 399 -4
118 Benin 8 396 31
119 Barbados 2 388 -1
120 El Salvador -2 386 -12
120 Hong Kong 0 386 -8
122 Lebanon -4 385 -13
123 Cape Verde Islands -1 373 -13
124 St. Kitts and Nevis 0 371 -2
125 Malta 2 368 7
126 Liechtenstein -3 367 -8
127 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 1 355 -2
128 Andorra -3 354 -14
128 Ethiopia 0 354 -3
130 Mozambique 0 350 -6
131 Yemen 0 348 -3
132 India 2 344 0
133 Swaziland -1 340 -8
134 Faroe Islands 0 338 -6
134 Liberia -2 338 -10
136 Palestine 0 332 -9
137 Fiji 2 329 -5
138 Solomon Islands 0 326 -10
138 Tahiti -1 326 -11
140 Kazakhstan 6 320 16
141 Myanmar 0 311 -2
142 Burundi 0 308 -3
143 Tajikistan -3 304 -10
144 Sri Lanka -2 301 -10
145 Mauritius 0 299 -7
146 Maldives -4 292 -19
147 Lesotho 0 289 -9
148 Vanuatu 0 285 -8
149 Grenada 0 278 -3
150 Madagascar 0 263 -10
151 Surinam 0 262 -7
152 Kyrgyzstan 0 258 -4
152 Luxembourg 3 258 12
154 Antigua and Barbuda -1 251 -1
155 Chinese Taipei -2 250 -2
156 Nicaragua 0 244 0
157 San Marino 4 239 11
158 Chad -1 235 -2
159 Bermuda -1 233 -3
160 Namibia -1 229 -4
161 Gambia -1 223 -7
162 Sierra Leone 0 209 -5
163 British Virgin Islands 0 204 -8
164 Papua New Guinea 1 203 -6
165 Laos -1 202 -9
166 Netherlands Antilles 0 196 -5
167 Dominica 0 186 -7
168 Guyana 14 185 46
169 Bangladesh -1 183 -7
170 Pakistan -1 182 -2
171 Equatorial Guinea 0 176 -4
172 Eritrea -2 175 -6
173 Dominican Republic -1 169 -5
174 Seychelles -1 160 -3
175 Tanzania -1 156 -6
176 Niger -1 154 -5
177 Cayman Islands 0 151 -1
178 Mauritania -2 149 -5
179 Samoa -1 143 -5
180 Nepal -1 142 -5
181 Mongolia -1 139 -1
182 Belize -2 138 -2
183 Central African Republic 0 135 -3
184 Tonga 0 119 -3
185 Cambodia 1 110 1
186 New Caledonia -1 109 -2
187 Philippines 0 92 -1
188 Somalia 0 89 -1
189 Bhutan 0 87 -2
190 Macau 0 80 -3
191 Guinea-Bissau 0 78 -2
192 Bahamas 0 75 -3
193 Cook Islands 0 74 -3
194 Puerto Rico 0 72 -1
195 US Virgin Islands 0 64 -1
196 S?o Tom? e Pr?ncipe 0 61 -3
197 Anguilla 0 56 -2
198 Brunei Darussalam 0 53 -2
199 Afghanistan 1 52 -1
199 Aruba 0 52 -2
201 Djibouti 0 35 -1
202 Montserrat 0 34 0
203 Turks and Caicos Islands 0 24 -1
204 Guam 0 20 0
205 American Samoa 0 16
- The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 23 November 2005