Malawi women football team 6th in Cosafa
Inactive Malawi women football team has made some gains on the June Fifa rankings, climbing five steps from 11th to sixth in Cosafa while also improving its rating in Africa and on the world chart.
In Africa, Malawi is now rated 22nd whereas on the world rating, they are placed 128, up from 133 in the previous chart last revised on March 16, according to Fifa website. The next revision is in August.
Positioned 61 in the world, South Africa are Cosafa’s number one and fourth on the continent whose leaders are Nigeria (27) followed by Cameroon (50), then Ghana (51).
In southern Africa, Zimbabwe are second, but rated 96 in the world and 13th in Africa. Angola are third in Cosafa, but 105 in the world and 15th on the continent. Namibia are fourth in this region and 115 in the world, but 18th in Africa.
Zambia are on position 122 on the global rank, 20th on the continent and fifth in Cosafa. The United States lead the world standings followed by Germany. Japan are third while Sweden occupy the fourth slot followed by Brazil on fifth.
On the revised edition there are 130 ranked teams across the world. Afghanistan are the tail-enders. In the previous rankings, there were 135 rated teams but this time around some have been relegated to the stand-by list.
National Women Football Committee (NWFC) chairperson Suzgo Ngwira could not be reached for comment while the association’s treasurer Winnie Nyondo said the rise was a timely recognition of the women football strides in the country.
“I was amazed at the talent that we discovered during the Airtel Rising Star competition in districts such as Chitipa. We thank FAM for their support, with more support we should climb higher as the team was previous unranked,” said Nyondo.
NWFC vice-president Severia Chalira said: “I am very happy with the development. Given a chance, the team can do better.”
FACT FACTS
—Malawi was until 2011 unranked due to inactivity.
—The women’s team has no nickname.
—Malawi last beat Zambia 3-1 in February in Blantyre.
—Women football rankings are done irregularly.
