Morocco reaches best FIFA ranking in history thanks to Netherlands defeat

Morocco climbed to seventh place in the FIFA rankings this week, a position never reached by any African nation in the 21st century — and it is Algeria that made this leap possible.

In a friendly match played Wednesday at Stadion Feijenoord in Rotterdam, the Fennecs defeated the Netherlands 1-0, inflicting a loss of 6.78 ranking points on the Oranje. The Dutch, initially seventh, thus ceded their place to the Lions of the Atlas, who advanced one rank — from eighth to seventh place in the world — a week before the start of the World Cup.

This FIFA ranking update places Morocco above all African records this century. Egypt’s Pharaohs had reached ninth place in 2010, Cameroon eleventh in 2009, Côte d’Ivoire twelfth in 2013. None of these nations had broken into the top 8 since 2000.

The continent’s all-time record nonetheless remains the property of Nigeria, which peaked at fifth place in the world in April 1994. At the time, the Super Eagles led by Jay-Jay Okocha had just won the Africa Cup of Nations.

On the Algerian side, the victory over the Netherlands also had positive effects: the Fennecs, twenty-eighth in the rankings, consolidated their lead over Egypt while reducing the gap with Australia.