Harambee Stars drop down four places after debilitating South Sudan loss

21st September 2023 - by Stephen Ochieng

South Sudan beat Kenya 0-1 in the team's final friendly match played at Kasarani

PHOTO| FKF
SUMMARY
  • The latest FIFA rankings were released on Thursday 21 September 2023.
  • Harambee Stars moved from position 105 to 109.
  • Argentina tightened their grip at the summit of the rankings followed by France and Brazil.

The men’s national football team, Harambee Stars, has dropped from position 105 to position 109 in the latest FIFA Rankings released on Thursday 21 September 2023.

This follows their shock 0-1 loss against minnows South Sudan in their final friendly match over the September international window that was played at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani just two weeks ago.

The South Sudan defeat undoing all the hard work the team had managed to do just a week before where they upset the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts Qatar 1-2 in Doha.

Kenya played only two matches against Qatar and South Sudan since the last rankings released back on 20 July this year.

Qatar dropped from their 59 spot to position 61 as South Sudan maintained position 167.

Democratic Republic of Congo remain the best ranked East African side on position 64 followed by Uganda (89).

Kenya (109), Tanzania (122), Rwanda (139), Burundi (141) and South Sudan (167). 

In Africa, 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finalists Morocco, who maintain their position as the best-ranked African side, moved up one position to 13th place globally.

Senegal (2nd) dropped from 18th place to position 20. Tunisia (29), Algeria (34) and Egypt (35) closed out the top five places in the continent.

Meanwhile, reigning World champions Argentina tightened their grip at the summit of the rankings following a 1-0 triumph over Ecuador and a 3-0 away success against Bolivia in their opening CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

Second-placed France lost some ground on the Albiceleste after suffering a 2-1 friendly defeat at the hands of Germany.

Meanwhile, Brazil (3rd), England (4th) and Belgium (5th) retained their places in a top five that remained unchanged from the July 2023 edition of the global rankings.

The leading pack are followed by Croatia (6th), the Netherlands (7th) and Portugal (8th), the only team amongst the top ten to climb a position.

Italy (9th) slip down a spot after having been held to a 1-1 draw away to North Macedonia in the sides’ UEFA EURO 2024 qualifier. The top-ten line-up is completed by Spain.