The Brave Warriors have dropped down three places to 114 in the world, according to the latest FIFA rankings which were released on Friday. During the month under review Namibia played one international match, losing 1-0 to Zambia in a Cosafa Challenge match in Zimbabwe on October 25.
It was Namibia’s first defeat in more than a year, during which time Namibia reached its highest ranking in more than a decade of 101 in the world. In September, Namibia was still ranked fifth in SADC and 26th in Africa.
The latest rankings, however, see Namibia slipping down to eighth in the SADC region and 30th in Africa.
Zimbabwe, who beat Zambia 3-0 in the final of the Cosafa Challenge, were the biggest climbers in Africa, moving up 23 positions to 108 in the world and 26 in Africa. In the process they overtook Namibia on the rankings after Namibia led them for most of the year.
Other nations in the SADC region who showed big improvements were Mozambique, who moved up 12 positions to 72 in the world, overtaking South Africa as the top ranked SADC nation in the process, and Zambia, who moved up six positions to 90th in the world.
The top ranked SADC nations are Mozambique (72 in the world), South Africa (86), Zambia (90), Angola (94), Malawi (94), Zimbabwe (108), DR Congo (109) and Namibia (114).
Cameroon, meanwhile, maintained its position as the top nation in Africa, moving up three positions to 11 in the world. Second placed Ivory Coast also moved up three positions to 16 in the world, while Nigeria moved up 10 positions to 22 in the world.
The rest of the top ten African nations are Algeria (28), Egypt (29), Ghana (37), Mali (47), Gabon (48), Burkina Faso (49) and Tunisia (53).
Spain overtook Brazil as the top ranked nation in the world, with Brazil dropping down to second. They are followed by the Netherlands, Italy and Portugal, who showed the biggest improvement amongst the top ten nations, moving up five places.
The rest of the top ten nations are Germany, France, Argentina, England and Croatia.