They are now placed at number 101 in the world and 26th in Africa. The Zebras have played five matches since the last rankings, winning one, drawing three and losing one.They played to a draw against Lesotho and Swaziland in the COSAFA Senior Challenge before beating Kenya in the last match of the group stages. The victory mattered little as Zebras bowed out of the competition, leaving many supporters disappointed. Coach, Tshosane had called on Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) based trio, Phenyo Mongala, Dirang Moloi and Jerome Ramatlhakwana for the tournament but saw his charges struggle against less fancied sides. Ramatlhakwana however finished as the top goal scorer of the tournament with four goals. The CHAN qualifiers were the next for Zebras to redeem their pride but faced the just recently crowned COSAFA Senior Challenge champions, Zambia. The two sides played to a 1-1 draw at Molepolole Sports Complex in the first leg before Zebras lost 2-0 away from home. The latest rankings would come as a surprise to many who have been following the performance of the team recently. In last month's rankings, Zebras had moved up 11 places, thanks to the two victories against Central African Republic (CAR) and Ethiopia in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
The top 12 of the rankings in the world remain unchanged, with Spain still leading the way ahead of Germany, Colombia, Argentina and the Netherlands. Movement on the global ladder has nevertheless been provided by the CONCACAF Gold Cup - the continental showdown of teams in North and Central America and the Caribbean - which took place in the USA last month. The Americans, who won their fifth title, have risen three places to 19th on the back of their flawless performance, returning to the top 20 after an absence of two-and-a-half years as the best-placed CONCACAF team at the expense of Mexico (20th, unchanged). The Mexicans lost in the semi-finals of the Gold Cup to Panama, who have climbed 11 places to 40th as a result of their exploits. In addition to the 22 Gold Cup matches, 53 friendlies were played in the past five weeks, including 46 in Africa alone, bringing the number of internationals played so far this year to 515. The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be released on September 12. (Additional reporting by FIFA)
