By Robert Kayindi James
Uganda has finally improved by three places in the latest FIFA rankings released on Thursday, 14th July after being static for the last two consecutive months.
For two months running, Uganda had been ranked 72nd but has now risen to the 69th place in the world and 15th on the African continent after accumulating 522 points. The Cranes’ rise has been ascribed to their 2-1 win over Botswana in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
On a related note, Comoros, who Uganda will play on the last day of the qualifiers managed to rise by seven places to be ranked 115th with 191 points.
Uganda’s Group E opponents in the road to Russia (2018 World Cup Qualifiers) Ghana, Egypt and Cong Brazzaville are ranked 36th, 43rd and 70th in the world respectively, with Congo dropping by 10 places.
The Pearl of Africa remains top of the CECAFA region despite Kenya’s drastic rise by 43 slots to the 86th spot.
Worldwide, Argentina remained top despite failing to win the Copa America Centenario, Belgium are also still second with Columbia, Germany and Chile coming third, fourth and fifth respectively.
UEFA Euro 2016 champions Portugal rose by two places to be ranked 6th whereas France rose by seven places to move into the top ten.
