Rapid drop for Harambee Stars in latest FIFA rankings

Kenya national football  team Harambee Stars has dropped 10 places in the latest FIFA rankings released by the world football governing body on Thursday.

Stars have dropped from position 74 to 84th,  barely a month after losing their first match of the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers  against lowly ranked Sierra Leone.

It is big blow for the Stanley Okumbi’s led team as they had earlier last month climbed four positions from 78th to 74th.

Speaking to Citizen Digital on the new ranking, Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa has challenged the team to bounce back against Ghana in their second AFCON qualifier to regain their momentum.

“Our latest rank in the FIFA standings reflects our loss against Sierra Leone in June. I urge Okumbi and his team to prepare adequately for the second AFCON  tie against Ghana so that we can go back to our position and even better it,” Mwendwa said.

They will however have to deal with Jordan first in a friendly tie slated for September this year.

Stars are 18th in Africa while they have maintained the second spot behind Uganda in East Africa, who have also dropped two places to 74th globally.

Tanzania are third in the region, while Burundi and Rwanda are fourth and fifth respectively .

Egypt lead the continent with 866(866.29) points occupying 24th position globally with Senegal, Congo DRC, Tunisia and Cameroon among the best ranked in the continent.

Germany is the best overall with 1609(1609.09) points followed by Brazil, Argentina and Portugal at the top four respectively.