ZIMBABWE’S 0-0 draw against Morocco in the opening match of the 2014 Orange African Nations Championships (Chan) finals last weekend saw them rise two places up to 105 in the Fifa-Coca-Cola world rankings released yesterday.
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In the last rankings in December, the Warriors were on 107 in the world with 299 points, but gained three points to 312 and two places up the ladder. They are ranked 28th in Africa.
This is the first time the Chan competition results have been used in the world ranking system following confirmation by Fifa and the Confederation of African Football (Caf) on Tuesday.
“The decision taken by the International Federation of Football Association was imposed with an immediate effect. The Fifa rankings for the month of January shall be published on Thursday, January 16 2014 and will take into account matches played until the January 12 2014 within the framework of the third edition of the Orange African Nations Championships — South Africa 2014,” the Caf website read.
The February ranking shall incorporate all other matches of the competition which ends on February 1.
There is no change in the top 25 teams, with Spain still leading the way, followed by Germany, Argentina, Colombia and Portugal.
World Cup hosts Brazil are tenth. Egypt jumped 10 places to fifth on the continent and 31st in the world, while Ivory Coast and Ghana are the leading two continental teams.
