SIHLANGU UP 3 PLACES

MBABANE – Stuttering Sihlangu can finally breathe after an improvement on the FIFA charts.

Rankings released by the world soccer governing body, FIFA, yesterday saw Kostadin Papic’s men moving three places up the charts to occupy the 147th spot with 1 055 points. It is a welcome change after dropping by 11 places in the past month.
The rank has been boosted by the away 2-all draw with better-ranked Zambia in last Saturday’s African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifier in Lusaka. Zambia’s ‘Chipolopolo’ remain 81st in the world.

In the African continent, Sihlangu are now 43rd out of 54 countries. Their rating in the 14-member Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) region still does not make for reverting reading. They are third from the bottom.
Coach Papic felt the improved rank was a call to do even better.
“We must go further,” he stressed.   

With the CHAN campaign out of the way, Sihlangu’s focus shifts to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.

journey

Their journey to Cameroon begins away at 123rd-ranked Guinea-Bissau on November 13 before hosting Africa’s number one-ranked side Senegal. The latter, who are nicknamed ‘Teranga Lions’ are on position 20 in the world. Congo are also in the same qualifying group as Sihlangu and are 92nd globally.

The world’s top five, on the other hand, is made up of Belgium, France, Brazil, England and Uruguay, in that order.
 After a long period testing and analysing the best way to calculate the FIFA World Ranking, a new model took effect in August last year after approval by the FIFA Council.

version

This new version relies on adding/subtracting points won or lost for a game to/from the previous point totals rather than averaging game points over a given time period as in the previous version of the World Ranking. The points which are added or subtracted are partially determined by the relative strength of the two opponents, including the logical expectation that teams higher in the ranking should fare better against lower-ranked sides.

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