Sierra Leone
South Africa were the biggest African risers in the Fifa rankings this month, edging up four places to 67th spot.
Elsewhere, Sierra Leone rose two places to 61st spot, to lie above Nigeria (63) for the first time in their history.
"We are ranked now among elite nations and that is very good news for the country's government, youth and football administrators," said Sierra Leone FA official Abdul Rahman Swarray.
Ivory Coast remain top in Africa at 15th, with Ghana second highest (22nd).
DR Congo were the biggest fallers, dropping five places to 124th position.
Sao Tome e Principe v Lesotho
African minnows Sao Tome and Principe led a surge of the continent's bottom teams in the latest FIFA ranking following last week's 2013 Nations Cup qualifying games.
The central Africans jumped 53 places after beating Sierra Leone 2:1 at home on Wednesday. The development lifted them to 115th in the world and 33rd in the continent's classification. Meanwhile Sierra Leone dropped nine spots to 73rd in the world and 17th in Africa.
The positions of the continent's top two teams, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, remained unchanged as they stayed 15th (1st) and 23rd (2nd) in the global and continental rankings. Both drew in friendlies against Guinea (0:0) and Chile (1:1) respectively last week.
Christian Caulker
168th-ranked
Sao Tome and Principe came from behind to edge a depleted
Sierra Leone 2:1 in their
2013 Nations Cup opening qualifier in Sao Tome on Wednesday.
The Leone Stars were made to pay for the absence of several key players including skipper Ibrahim Kargbo, AC Milan midfielder Rodney Strasser, as well as the dreaded strike duo of Mohamed and Teteh Bangura - all of whom are injured.
Despite the missing lot the Leone Stars, who are ranked 104 places above their rivals, took the lead through Al-Hadji Kamara in the 55th minute.
The hosts levelled from the spot ten minutes later, before a goalkeeping mistake from first choice goalkeeper Christian Caulker handed the Falcons the win.
A player strike on the eve of the
African Nations Cup first round, first leg qualifier against
Sierra Leone is threatening
Sao Tome & Principe’s chances of continuing their change in footballing fortunes.
Players refused to participate in a five day preparatory camp ahead of the game because they claimed promised token payments from government had not bene made to their families.
Sao Tome, one of the continent’s lowest ranked sides, upset Lesotho in their preliminary round tie in January, winning 1-0 on aggregate to create history for the tiny former Portuguese colony, who had never before won a competitive tie.
_Lesotho are out of the
2013 African Cup of Nations tournament after drawing 0-0 with
São Tomé and Príncipe in the reverse fixture,
preliminary round qualifier at the Setsoto Stadium yesterday.
After losing the first leg 1-0 in São Tomé last weekend, Likuena needed a 2-0 win in yesterday’s fixture in order to proceed to the next round of the competition.
But Leslie Notši’s charges could not score the much-needed goals, with striker, Thapelo Tale, wasting a gilt-edged chance in the dying minutes of the game, to complete a miserable afternoon for the home side.
Lesotho vs. Burundi (World Cup qualifier)
_The first leg of the
2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between
Sao Tome e Principe and
Lesotho has been postponed until 15 January.
The preliminary round game was due to be played on Sunday in Sao Tome.
The delay came as Lesotho were unable to get flights to the island nation and will now travel on 12 January.
The Confederation of African Football have agreed to the delay and the second leg of the tie be played as planned on 22 January in Maseru.
The overall winners will go through to play Sierra Leone in the first round of the qualifiers for the 2013 finals that will be hosted by South Africa.
Greenpoint in Cape Town, SA
_Qualifying for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations will start ahead of the 2012 finals, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) has revealed.
The preliminary round's opening legs take place on 6-8 January, two weeks before the 2012 Nations Cup begins.
Meanwhile, the return legs of those ties will take place on 20-22 January, the same weekend as the finals in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon kick off.
The scenario has arisen as the finals are moving from even years to odd ones.
This action has been taken by Caf to ensure that the Nations Cup, which has been played in even years since the 1965 finals, no longer clashes with the World Cup.
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