Morocco will go for next month’s Africa Cup of Nations, Cote d’Ivoire 2023, as the highest-ranked side in the tournament following Thursday’s release of the FIFA Rankings.
The Atlas Lions maintained their leadership position on the continent just three weeks before the tournament kicks off in Cote d’Ivoire. This means they will go into Africa’s flagship sports competition as the highest-ranked team for the ranking that is released every month.
It also means Morocco finished the year by maintaining their position as the leading African football nation as there were minimal changes in the last FIFA rankings for the year. It is a massive confidence boost for the Atlas Lions for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations who were closely followed by Senegal and Tunisia.
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Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, and Burkina Faso complete the top ten countries. This ranking provides an opportunity to reflect on the statistical performance of the continent’s teams, with a total of 231 matches played throughout the year.
Among these, 91 were friendly matches, 88 were related to CAF competition qualifiers, and 52 were for FIFA competition qualifications. Algeria and Madagascar emerged as the most active national teams on the continent, each participating in 16 matches.
The full list includes a total of 53 African nations, with Eritrea not ranked due to inactivity for over four years. Morocco’s consistent performance secured its top position in the continental rankings, reflecting a year of intense football activity across Africa.
- Additional reporting CAFOnline.