In the just published FIFA NATIONS RANKING, Ghana ranked 60thposition making the Black Stars retain their position of being the lowest ranked team of the 32 teams heading into the World Cup in Qatar next month.
CURRENT FIFA RANKING: 60th
HIGHEST FIFA RANKING: 14th (April-May 2007, February 2008)
LOWEST FIFA RANKING: 84th (June 2004)
Ghana’s lowest FIFA ranking in June 2004, preceded a World Cup qualification campaign which would see the Black Stars make their first appearance on the World Stage (Germany 2006).
Our World Cup campaigns came in between mixed performances in FIFA rankings. Ghana produced its highest FIFA ranking entering into the World Cup season in our last appearance (Brazil 2014), where the team placed 23rd (22nd out of the 32 teams).
Nevertheless, in contrast, our performance did not tally with that ranking as the nation was booted out in the group stages with only 1 point and a lot of post-competition controversies.
A well-renowned statistical base, OPTA, has given Ghana a 0.02% chance of lifting the trophy. But are the Black Stars being too underrated? With the new recruits and in-form players available at the disposal of the team, do the Black Stars have a good shot as being the ‘black horse’ of next month’s tournament? Can the Stars emulate their good runs in 2006 and 2010 even with rather poor FIFA rankings at that time?
Will this rating rather be an advantage for the team by going to Qatar with a point to prove?
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