🇲🇦Le Matin·2 hours ago
Atlas Lionesses climb four spots in FIFA women's rankings
The Atlas Lionesses have advanced four places in the latest FIFA women's rankings, now holding the 4th position in Africa with 1402.88 points. This improvement follows three friendly match victories. Nigeria leads the African rankings at 36th globally, followed by South Africa 58th and Ghana 59th. Zambia remains at 64th worldwide, completing the continental top five. Globally, 276 qualifying matches for the FIFA Women's World Cup Brazil 2027 have been played across all confederations except CAF since the last ranking in December 2025. Spain maintains its lead since August 2025, despite a loss to England, which moved up to 3rd place, pushing Germany to 4th. The United States remains 2nd after two friendly wins and one loss to Japan. Japan made the biggest leap in the top 10, rising three places to 5th, thanks to six qualifying victories and a friendly win against the United States. Sweden dropped three places to 8th due to poor results. North Korea exited the top 10, replaced by the Netherlands, which re-entered at 10th. Several countries achieved their highest-ever rankings, including Turkey 51st, El Salvador 78th, Kosovo 81st, Nepal 87th, and Saudi Arabia 160th. American Samoa also made a significant jump, climbing 17 spots to 120th. The British Virgin Islands have been removed from the rankings, reducing the total number of ranked teams from 198 to 197, as they have not fielded a women's team for four years. The next FIFA women's world ranking will be published on June 16,