Egypt dropped one position to 58th in the FIFA global football rankings for January after placing 57th last month.

The Pharaohs have been out of action since beating Chad 4-1 on aggregate last November in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, bidding for a place in the most prestigious tournament.

The Pharaohs will be drawn into a four-team group, with the winners directly reaching the 2018 finals in Russia. The draw will be made in July and the group stage will start in October.

Egypt also reached the 2017 African Cup of Nations final qualifiers after leading Group G with 6 points.

Egypt will face Nigeria on 23 and 27 March respectively in the Nations Cup qualifiers.

The seven-time African champions, who missed the last three editions of the Nations Cup, are at the top of their group with six points, two ahead of the second placed Nigeria.

Egypt made it into the world's top 10 when they won three successive African Cup of Nations trophies in 2006, 2008 and 2010. They last reached the World Cup in 1990.

Algeria, who kept their position in the global rankings at 28th, are ranked second out of African nations while Ivory Coast (19) still dominate the top post.

Egypt sits in ninth place for African nations and third place for Arab nations.

Meanwhile, the January global rankings saw no changes with Belgium keeping their lead in the rankings, while Argentina sit in second and Spain third.

FIFA world ranking (December position in parentheses):

1. Belgium (1)

2. Argentina (2)

3. Spain (3)

4. Germany (4)

5. Chile (5)

6. Brazil (6)

7. Portugal (7)

8. Colombia (8)

9. England (9)

10. Austria (10)

Top five African teams:

19. Ivory Coast (19)

28. Algeria (28)

33. Ghana (33)

39. Cape Verde (39)

40. Tunisia (40)

Top five Arab teams:

28. Algeria (28)

40. Tunisia (40)

58. Egypt (57)

64. UAE (65)

75. Saudi Arabia (80)

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