Sports News of Thursday, 22 December 2022

Source: footballghana.com

Morocco overtake Senegal to become best African FIFA ranked team

The Atlas Lions of Morocco The Atlas Lions of Morocco

The Atlas Lions of Morocco have overtaken Senegal to become Africa's best side following the release of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.

The Atlas Lions are currently ranked 11th in the world while the Teranga Lions occupy the 19th position having exited the 2022 World Cup at the last 16, losing to England.

Morocco made history at the 2022 FIFA World Cup by becoming the first African nation to qualify for the last four of the global showpiece, however, they lost to the defending champions, France.

They lost again to Croatia who clinched a playoff victory on Saturday. Josko Gvardiol gave Croatia the lead on seven minutes but Achraf Dari levelled just two minutes later. Mislav Orsic restored Croatia's lead three minutes before half-time.

The North African country are one of the biggest climbers as they rose 11 places together with Australia.

Both countries massively overperformed however, it's not Morocco's highest-ever ranking, as they were 10th in 1998, but in 2015, they were ranked 92nd.