Egypt’s national team dropped from 46th to 48th place in this month’s FIFA global rankings after the 1-1 away from home draw with Gabon in the 2022 African World Cup qualifiers.

Libya, on the other hand, has progressed substantially in the new rankings, jumping 12 places to 110th place thanks to their superb performance in the World Cup qualifiers, as they claimed a 2-1 win over Gabon and 1-0 victory away from home against Angola.

The Pharaohs stayed in 6th place among African countries, behind Senegal at 20th place, Tunisia at 25th, Algeria at 30th, Morocco at 33rd, and Nigeria at 34th.

In the European rankings, Belgium reigned over the top ten national teams, ahead of Brazil and England, who jumped one place in September’s rankings.

Egypt — who previously made it into the world’s top ten teams after they won three consecutive African Cup of Nations trophies in 2006, 2008, and 2010 — placed 5th among Arab countries, after Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Qatar.

Egypt played two games this September, claiming a 1-0 victory over Angola and being held to a 1-1 draw against Gabon in the World Cup qualifiers.

The Pharaohs’ next game is scheduled in October against Libya in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

The Egyptian Football Association named Portuguese tactician Carlos Queiroz as the national team’s coach to replace axed coach Hossam El-Badry due to the team’s poor performance in the World Cup qualifiers.

Queiroz will start his mission with the team with two games against group leaders Libya in the qualifiers next October.

Libya are in the driving seat of Group F of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers with six points and are scheduled to face Egypt next month.

FIFA’s September World Rankings (August world rankings in parenthesis):

1. Belgium (1)
2. Brazil (2)
3. England (4)
3. France (4)
5. Italy (5)
6. Argentina (6)
7. Portugal (8)
8. Spain (7)
9. Mexico (9)
10. Denmark (15)

Top ten African teams:

20. Senegal (21)
25. Tunisia (28)
30. Algeria (30)
33. Morocco (32)
34. Nigeria (34)
48. Egypt (46)
53. Ghana (52)
54. Cote d’Ivoire (57)
58. Cameroon (54)
61. Mali (60)

Top five Arab teams:

25. Tunisia (28)
30. Algeria (30)
33. Morocco (32)
43. Qatar (42)
48. Egypt (46)

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