Warriors drop six places on FIFA rankings

THE Zimbabwe Warriors dropped six places on the world stage and one place on the African continent despite not kicking a ball in the period under review.
According to the Fifa/Coca-Cola world rankings released in Zurich, Switzerland yesterday, the Warriors are now ranked 106th in the world and 27th in Africa, down from 100 and 26 last month.
Results of only 12 matches across the globe were taken into account but more movements are expected next month as a result of the many matches that will take place on 15 August, a Fifa-recognised international friendly matches date.
If Zifa does not organise a match for the Warriors on that day, Rahman Gumbo's men could find themselves slipping even further down.
African champions Zambia are the only side from the Southern Region inside the top 10 although they too dropped from sixth position last month to ninth, while on the global front they dropped three points to occupy 44th place.
Zimbabwe's Nations Cup qualifiers' opponents next month, Angola, moved one rung up the ladder both in Africa and the world. The Palancas Negras (Sable Antelopes) are now ranked 20th and 85th in the continental and world rankings respectively.
A win by Zimbabwe will greatly enhance the Warriors' rankings in October as the next Fifa/Coca-Cola rankings release date will be 5 September with the match taking place three days later.
The latest rankings saw the coming in of a new Fifa member, South Sudan, which became Fifa's 209th member at the 2012 Congress in Budapest. They played their first official international match in their capital city of Juba on 10 July.
Their much-heralded 2-2 draw with Uganda was worth 20 ranking points and sees the Southern Sudanese make their debut in 199th place.