Zimbabwe Warriors Drop Seven Places in Latest FIFA Rankings
WARRIORS supporters have described the continued fall of the Zimbabwe senior football team on the FIFA rankings as disastrous, after the team fell just short of equalling their record-lowest position since the ranking system was introduced.
The latest statistics released by the world football governing body yesterday showed Zimbabwe are now ranked 129th globally and 38th in Africa.
Zimbabwe fell seven places down the global charts and were among the biggest losers on the continental rankings.
The latest ebb is indicative of the cumulative challenges facing the Warriors, which have continued even under the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee led by Lincoln Mutasa.
The rankings were released yesterday in the wake of the recent 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in South Africa, where Zimbabwe suffered deflating losses in two games against Lesotho and Bafana earlier this month.
The Warriors were humbled 2-0 by minnows Lesotho, in their home match played on foreign soil at the Orlando Stadium, before surrendering 1-3 to hosts South Africa a few days later in Bloemfontein.
According to the permutations conducted by FIFA after the two match days, the Warriors lost 2112 points, and in the process were overtaken by the likes of Sierra Leone (122), Malawi (125), Cyprus (126), Central Africa Republic (127), Niger (128) and war-torn Sudan who rose six places up to 121.
The latest ranking just came close to matching their worst global ranking of 131, which they experienced in 2016.
“The Warriors slumping to 129th in the world is disastrous and shows our standards in terms of international football continue to fall,” said Warriors super fan Chris Romario Musekiwa.
He said the rankings were just a reflection of the poor leadership and lack of planning. The Warriors have had five different coaches in under 12 months under the current Normalisation Committee.
