Bafana Bafana Climb 1 Place in FIFA Rankings Despite Defeat Against Morocco in Africa Cup of Nations Qualifier

Bafana Bafana Climb 1 Place in FIFA Rankings Despite Defeat Against Morocco in Africa Cup of Nations Qualifier

Byron Pillay
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:05 PM
  • South Africa has climbed up the latest FIFA rankings and are now ranked the 68th best nation in the world
  • Bafana played only one game since the previous FIFA rankings and lost that match to Morocco in an AFCON qualifier
  • Bafana were previously ranked as the 13th best side in Africa but have moved up one place to 12th on the continent

Bafana Bafana are climbing up the FIFA rankings.

FIFA released their latest rankings today which saw the South African national team climb up one place.

Bafana, FIFA, South Africa, Sport, Football, Rankings, Soccer, Hugo Broos, Morocco, France
Bafana have climbed up the latest rankings despite suffering a defeat to Morocco in their last fixture. @BafanaBafana
Source: Twitter

Hugo Broos’ side are now ranked 68th in the world and are the 12th best side in Africa, FIFA confirmed.

Bafana were 69th in the world after their crushing defeat to France in an International friendly and have only played one game since.

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That game was also a defeat, against Morocco, in a 2023 AFCON qualifier.

Morocco beat Bafana 2-1 in the game, IOL reported.

Despite the loss, Bafana still made progress up the rankings. Bafana will next play two games against Liberia in September, looking to get a win on the board and give themselves a great chance of qualifying for next year’s tournament.

Bafana drop down in FIFA ranking after a defeat to France, and are now ranked 13th best side on the African continent

Bafana’s embarrassing defeat to France is still a sore point for South Africans, and the latest FIFA rankings will do little to improve the mood.

The FIFA rankings were updated after the latest round of international friendlies and World Cup qualifiers.

Bafana were involved in two international friendlies, a goalless draw against and a humiliating defeat to world champions France. As a result of their poor performances, the South African side dropped down one place in the rankings.

Kylian Mbappe terrorises Bafana Bafana as France schools South Africa in footballing lesson

World champions France taught South Africa a footballing lesson in an international friendly played in Lille on Tuesday night with a 5-0 victory. Goals from Kylian Mbappe (2), Olivier Giroud, Wissam Ben Yedder and Matteo Gendouzi were enough to see the world champions make light work of an overmatched Bafana Bafana.

In a match that Sports Brief observed, Les Bleus hardly had to step out of third gear, underlining their dominance of a hopelessly out-of-depth Bafana Bafana side.

At one point, it would have been fairer if the referee threw in a second ball onto the pitch to make it something of a fairer contest.

Authors
Byron Pillay photo
Byron Pillay
Byron Pillay is a sports writer and Head of the Department at Sports Brief (joined in 2022) with over 10 years of experience in community journalism and a degree in journalism from Caxton's Cadet School.
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Hugo BroosSouth Africa