Following the teams back-to-back 2-1 defeats to Cape Verde during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Stuart Baxter’s side has dropped to 80th in the world.

This is South Africa’s lowest ranking in 2013 when Gordon Igesund was still the national coach.

Cape Verde in their turn climbed 14 places from 81st to 67th.

The coach Baxter, says that he didn’t think they played too bad against the Island nation, but they have to be better.

“We’re going to have to play better in any tournament that we play in.

“We are going to have to get more time together so that we can sharpen our knives and weapons to make sure that we go into battle a little better equipped.

Egypt is still Africa’s number one ranked team at 30th in the world.

Germany, Brazil and Portugal occupy the top three spots in the rankings.

Africa (CAF) Top 10 - 1 Egypt (30), 2 Tunisia (31), 3 Senegal (33), 4 Congo DR (42), 5 Nigeria (44), 6 Cameroon (45), 7 Burkina Faso (49), 8 Ghana (52), 9 Ivory Coast (54), 10 Morocco (56) - 18 South Africa (80).

World Top 10 - 1 Germany, 2 Brazil, 3 Portugal, 4 Argentina, 5 Belgium, 6 Poland, 7 Switzerland, 8 France, 9 Chile, 10 Columbia.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport