The football federation FédérationThe International Football Association (FIFA) published its latest national team rankings on November 5, 2015. On the African continent, Tunisia topped the list of best Africa national football teams for 2018. Second on the list is Egypt, closely followed by Morocco. The Egyptian pharaohs and the Nigerian super eagles have made it into the top 10 list of the best national football teams in Africa.
Senegal, DR Congo, Morocco, Egypt and Cameroon are the top five football teams in Africa, in that order. Below is the full list, along with their standout individual achievements.
Read on to get the gist…
1. Senegal – The Lions of Teranga
World Ranking: #27
After losing 2-0 to South Africa on November 10, 2017, the Senegalese national team qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup for the second time in their history. Senegal has won the Amilcar Cabral Cup, a regional football tournament for West African nations, eight times like no other country. This makes the team one of the best in Africa and the world.
2. Democratic Republic of the Congo – The Leopards
World Ranking: #39
Rounding out the top 2 for Africa, DR Congo ranks a respectable 39th in the world. In that year Africa Cup of Nations , DR Congo qualified from their group with 3 points and finished 2nd in the group behind Tunisia therefore they advanced to quarter finals to play against their rivals Republic of Congo and they came behind by two goals down to win 4-2. The country was the first sub-Saharan African team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup and has won the Africa Cup of Nations twice.
See: Top 20 Most Expensive Sports Stadiums in Africa
3. Morocco – Lions of the Atlas
World Ranking: #42
The Lions of the Atlas are currently managed by Hervé Renard and were the first Africans to win a group at the World Cup in 1986. For the first time in 20 years, Morocco qualified for the 2018 World Cup.
4. Egypt – The Pharaohs
World Ranking: #43
During the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, which was the Egyptian football team that was a guest in Gabon, it was placed in Group G with Nigeria, Tanzania and Chad. In their first game against Tanzania, Egypt also won 3-0. This made Egypt joint group leaders after both nations won their first game.
See also: Top 10 Football Clubs in Africa
5. Cameroon – Indomitable lions
World Ranking: #51
Cameroon qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 1982, becoming the first African team to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. This had a positive impact on the history of African football as FIFA increased the number of African teams at the World Cup. The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon are the greatest ever African team in history and the history of the World Cup finals. They have recorded the most appearances at the Africa World Cup with seven, as well as the most consecutive appearances at the Africa World Cup among teams with four teams between 1990 and 2002. In 2003, Cameroon became the only African team to reach the final of the FIFA Confederations Cup.
They finished 5th in the continental FIFA rankings and 51st in the world rankings, falling 3 places from an overall ranking of 48 in October.
6. Nigeria – Super Eagles
World Ranking: #52
The Super Eagles have been a strong team since 1949 and are three-time winners of the Africa Cup of Nations; The country ranked fifth in the 1994 FIFA World Ranking. This was the highest FIFA ranking achieved by an African football team. For the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup, the Super Eagles of Nigeria became the first African side to qualify for the tournament after beating Zambia 1–0 in Uyo.
7. Ghana – The Black Stars
World Ranking: #54
The Ghana national football team popularly The Black Stars nickname has stood for Ghana in the International Football Association and has been since the 1950s. Although the team only qualified for the FIFA Senior World Cup in 2006 and qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first time, they had qualified for five consecutive Olympic football tournaments when the tournament was still a full competition for the national team of the seniors was. The team won the Africa Cup of Nations four times (1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982) and were runners-up five times (1968, 1970, 1992, 2010 and 2015).
8. Burkina Faso – Les Etalons
World Ranking: #57
The football team was known as the Upper Volta national football team until 1984 when Upper Volta became Burkina Faso. Ranked number 8 on the list of Africa’s best football teams, The Stallions played their best game at the World Cup in 2013.
9. Algeria – The Fennec Foxes / Desert Warriors
World Ranking: #60
Algeria is the first African team to achieve the best of footballing by inspiring African nations to play without complexity. The Desert Warriors fell ninth this month, falling a step and losing first place to their traditional rivals Morocco and Egypt.
10. Cape Verde Islands – The Tubarões Azuis or Crioulos
World Ranking: #62
The country hosted and won the Amílcar CabralCup in 2000 and won the gold medal in soccer tournament at the 2009 Lusophony Games. The soccer team has also won a bronze medal at the 2006 Lusophony Games. Their second friendly against Portugal resulted in a 2–0 victory in Portugal, which was very remarkable as Portugal was third in the FIFA rankings and Cape Verde was 117th.