April FIFA rankings: Which teams climbed and who fell in Africa? Guinea-Bissau drops the most globally
- Hossam Ahmed
- Apr 3
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 4
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has announced the latest FIFA rankings for national teams in April 2025. This is the first ranking update of the year, following the last release on December 19, 2024.
The latest rankings reflect some changes in the standings of African national teams, influenced primarily by their performances in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in March and the African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers.
African teams' rankings and changes
The ranking calculation incorporated points from both the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and CHAN qualifiers.
Morocco retained its position as Africa’s top-ranked team and climbed two places globally to 12th, improving from 14th in the previous ranking.
Senegal remained Africa’s second-ranked team despite dropping two places in the global rankings to 19th.
Biggest Movers
Ivory Coast made the most significant rise, moving up five places from 46th to 41st globally.
Gabon climbed five places, from 84th to 79th.
Zimbabwe also improved its standing, moving from 121st to 116th.
Sierra Leone gained five places, rising from 129th to 124th.
Biggest Fall
Guinea-Bissau experienced the steepest decline, falling eight places, from 120th to 128th, the largest drop of any team worldwide in this ranking cycle.
The team lost all four of its matches since the last ranking update, suffering defeats against Guinea (home and away) in the CHAN qualifiers, as well as against Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso in the World Cup qualifiers.
Rwanda dropped six places, falling from 124th to 130th, making it the second-largest decline among African teams in this update.
Unchanged Rankings
The rankings of seven African teams remained unchanged since the last update: DR Congo (61st), Cape Verde (72nd), Mozambique (96th), Niger (122nd), Central African Republic (135th), Botswana (136th), and South Sudan (170th).
Top 10 African teams in the April 2025 FIFA Rankings
1. Morocco – 12th globally
2. Senegal – 19th
3. Egypt – 32nd
4. Algeria – 36th
5. Ivory Coast – 41st
6. Nigeria – 43rd
7. Tunisia – 49th
8. Cameroon – 50th
9. Mali – 53rd
10. South Africa – 56th
The rest of the rankings for African teams
11- DR Congo- 61st globally
12- Burkina Faso- 64th
13- Cape Verde- 72nd
14- Ghana- 76th
15- Gabon- 79th
16- Guinea- 82nd
17- Angola- 87th
18- Zambia- 88th
19- Uganda- 89th
20- Equatorial Guinea- 92nd
21- Benin- 95th
22- Mozambique- 96th
23- Comoros- 105th
24- Tanzania- 107th
25- Namibia- 108th
26- Mauritania- 110th
27- Kenya- 111th
28- Sudan- 114th
29- Madagascar- 115th
30- Zimbabwe- 116th
31- Libya- 117th
32- Togo- 120th
33- Niger- 122nd
34- Sierra Leone- 124th
35- Congo- 125th
36- The Gambia- 126th
37- Guinea-Bissau- 128th
38- Rwanda- 130th
39- Malawi- 132nd
40- Central African Republic- 135th
41- Botswana- 136th
42- Burundi- 140th
43- Liberia- 144th
44- Ethiopia- 147th
45- Lesotho- 148th
46- Eswatini- 155th
47- South Sudan- 170th
48- Chad- 177th
49- Mauritius- 178th
50- Djibouti- 192nd
51- São Tomé and Príncipe- 194th
52- Somalia- 201st
53- Seychelles- 203rd
Eritrea- Unranked
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