Otniel Hembapu
Windhoek-Namibia’s senior men’s side, the Brave Warriors, have moved up four places on the latest Fifa world rankings released yesterday, shooting up from 136th place it occupied since last month to a much improved 132nd place.
Not only did Namibia perk up its world ranking, but also its improved overall rating in continental football, moving up from the 39th place it occupied in Africa last month to an improved 36th place on the latest African rankings by the International Federation of Football Associations (Fifa).
Prior to August’s world rankings, Namibia had dropped badly in the July release, slipping from position 94 in June to 156th in July – a drop of 64 places.
Namibia’s improved world and continental ranking follows the Brave Warriors’ recent first ever African Nations Championship CHAN) qualification, which saw them negotiate past Comoros in their two-legged affair to book themselves a place in CHAN Kenya 2018.
The next Fifa world rankings will be released on October 10.
Germany took over the top spot on the latest world ranking, replacing Brazil, which now occupies second place. Portugal were the biggest movers within the world top 10, moving from 6th position to replace Argentina at 3rd place. In Africa, Egypt retained its top spot, followed by Tunisia who moved from 4th place to replace DR Congo in 2nd place, while Senegal remains in third place.
Fifa world ranking calculations are simple; any team that does well in world football wins points, which enable it to climb the world ranking. A team’s total number of points over a four-year period is determined by adding the average number of points gained from matches during the previous 12 months and the average number of points gained from matches older than 12 months (depreciates yearly).