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Uganda tops Cecafa region in FIFA rankings

Xinhua, April 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

Uganda has maintained its lead as the top ranked nation in the Council for East and Central African Football Associations (Cecafa) at the latest ranking by the global football governing body.

Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) in its ranking on Thursday showed that Uganda dropped to 72 with 491 points, but still remained top in the Cecafa region.

The recent 1-0 loss and 0-0 draw with Burkina Faso in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers explain Uganda's drop.

"We shall continue to work very hard to qualify for Afcon despite the drop in the rankings," said Uganda's coach Milutin Sredojevic.

Rwanda who reached the quarterfinals of the 2015 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) that it hosted is second in the Cecafa region and 87th in the world.

Kenya is third in Cecafa region, while Burundi and Ethiopia are fourth and fifth respectively.

The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) champions Cote d'Ivoire ranked 34th, while Algeria who reached the knockout stage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil remains the best ranked African country at number 33.

Argentina now tops the ranking with 1,532 points, while Belgium dropped to second place. World Cup holders Germany slipped by three places to fifth. Chile and Colombia are third and fourth respectively. Endi