Uganda national football team has made a tremendous progress according to the latest rankings by the international football governing body FIFA, the Nile Post has learnt.
The latest rankings released on Thursday have seen Uganda rise from their 83rd position to the 79th in the world's footballing nations.
The rankings are based on the national team’s performance in a given period of time.
Uganda beat their counter parts from Lesotho on a 5- nil aggregate in their group L double headed fixture in the 2019 African Nations Cup qualifiers, whose finals are to be played in Cameroon.
The wins both home and away partly contributed to the rise in the Cranes rankings.
Uganda is now 17th on the African continent.
The rankings have also seen Belgium retain their number one position followed by the 2017 World Cup champions France.
Brazil, Croatia and England are in third, fourth and fifth position respectively whereas Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal have retained their seventh position and Lionel Messi’s Argentina have dropped one position to 12th below Switzerland(8th), Spain(9th),Denmark(10th) and Colombia(11th).
On the African continent, North African giants Tunisia have risen a spot up to lead the rankings whereas the Lions of Teranga of Senegal have retained their second position.
Nigeria have climbed four positions to third on the continent whereas 2017 Afcon champions Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions have dropped one place to sixth.
In the CECAFA region, Uganda is still leading, followed by Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania and Rwanda respectively.
Uganda’s opponents in the Afcon 2019 qualifiers Cape Verde and Lesotho are in the 14th and 43rd positions in the continental rankings.