Malawi moves 8 steps up on FIFA rankings

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—The Malawi national football team has moved 8 places up in the global football rankings released by FIFA on Wednesday.

The Flames, who were on position 123, are now on 115 after beating South Sudan at their backyard and Uganda at the Kamuzu Stadium to qualify for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations.

Senegal, which is on position 22, has maintained its number one status as the highest ranked African national team while Tunisia, Nigeria, Algeria and Morocco complete the top five African teams.

On the global level, Belgium continues to dominate the rankings above World Champions France.

Brazil, England and Portugal are on position 3, 4 and 5 respectively.

Spain, Italy, Argentina, Uruguayand Denmark complete the best top ten teams in the world.

Under the mentorship of local coach Meke Mwase, Malawi sealed the second remaining spot from Group B, beating Uganda by a solitary goal at the Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre on Monday last week to qualify for their first Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) since 2010.

Maneno Chimulala

I am a journalist, educator, and activist with passion for telling stories about social justice, sports and political issues. I graduated from Mzuzu University. I started my career at the Maravi Post online publication in 2012 as an intern while in college. Upon graduating from Mzuzu University I was offered a job as Sports Reporter because of my background as a goalkeeper and rose to the position of sub editor. I also had a short stint with Nyasatimes, Malawi Punch and Malawi Digest. Over the past seven years, I have worked intimately with rural organizations and communities in Malawi on human rights, girl child education and grassroots development projects. With an academic background in education, I also volunteer as male champion for girls’ education under Girls Empowerment Networks (GENET) in Malawi’s South West Education Division (SWED).