Following the publication world football governing- FIFA’s final rankings for the year, here is a look at the top-ranked African countries heading into the Africa Cup of Nations.
Senegal will compete as the highest-ranked African nation in Africa’s largest event, which begins on January 9th.
The Lions of Teranga remain in 20th place following the most recent international break, where they drew with Togo and defeated Congo in November during World Cup qualifiers.
The top ten remain unchanged, but defending Africa Cup of Nations champions Algeria have moved up one spot to 30th, passing Tunisia, which has dropped one spot.
Algeria currently has the longest ongoing undefeated streak in international football, having not lost in 33 games, four fewer than the global record recently achieved by Italy.
South Africa, however, will conclude the year in 68th place after failing to qualify for the World Cup play-off round following a loss to Ghana during the most recent international break.
The top 10:
10 – Cote d’Ivoire (56th)
9 – Mali (53rd)
8 – Ghana (52nd)
7 – Cameroon (50th)
6 – Egypt (45th)
5 – Nigeria (36th)
4 – Tunisia (30th)
3 – Algeria (29th)
2 – Morocco (28th)
1 – Senegal (20th)
