Orange Africa Cup of Nations – Friday 03 February 2012
After a two day break the action resumes on Saturday, when the first two Quarter-Finals take place and will see Zambia v Sudan (in Bata) and Ivory Coast v Equatorial Guinea (in Malabo). Sudan and co-hosts Equatorial Guinea are the two lowest ranked teams in the competition and would not have expected to have made it this far. However, Sudan will feel they have a chance of causing an upset when they meet Zambia, but will have to contain two useful strikers in Christopher Katongo and Emmanuel Mayuka who have both scored two each for Zambia in the tournament so far. For me, the attacking abilities of The Copper Bullets will bring down the Falcons of Jediane and Zambia will progress to claim a Semi-Final place.
Over in Malabo the second Quarter-Final will see the favourites and top ranked team, Ivory Coast, attempt to break the hearts of the locals when they take on Equatorial Guinea. The Elephants have by no means been outstanding so far, but have won all their games in an efficient, if somewhat unspectacular fashion. However, Ivory Coast have yet to concede a goal in the tournament so far, and with the strength of squad that includes the experience of Eboue, Drogba and Zokora and younger talent such as Bony, there seems to be no outcome except a win for the Ivory Coast. Of course we all love the underdog, but this really does look on paper a game too far for Nzalang Nacional.
Throughout the “diary” for the competition I have made reference to the rankings of teams, so detailed below is the current full list for the Confederation of African Football (CAF). This was last published on 18 January 2012 and will be updated on 15 February 2012. It shows the ranking within the CAF and FIFA. Each team is given a number of points (not shown here) which is based on a calculation which is arrived at by the following factors:
Points from a single match x Importance of game x strength of opposition x strength of opposition football association/confederation.
However, below each of those criteria is another set, so for instance, in terms of “importance of game” there are a range of points available depending on the type of competition the game took place in. For full details of how it all works, click here
Q = Qualified for 2012 Orange Africa Cup of Nations.
| CAF Ranking | FIFA Ranking | Team Name |
| 1 | 18 | Ivory Coast (Q) |
| 2 | 26 | Ghana (Q) |
| 3 | 32 | Algeria |
| 4 | 36 | Egypt |
| 5 | 43 | Senegal (Q) |
| 6 | 45 | Nigeria |
| 7 | 56 | Cameroon |
| 8 | 56 | South Africa |
| 9 | 58 | Cape Verde Islands |
| 10 | 59 | Tunisia (Q) |
| 11 | 60 | Sierra Leone |
| 12 | 61 | Morocco (Q) |
| 13 | 63 | Libya (Q) |
| 14 | 66 | Burkina Faso (Q) |
| 15 | 69 | Mali (Q) |
| 16 | 71 | Zambia (Q) |
| 17 | 79 | Guinea (Q) |
| 18 | 82 | Uganda |
| 19 | 85 | Angola (Q) |
| 20 | 91 | Gabon (Q) |
| 21 | 94 | Botswana (Q) |
| 22 | 98 | Niger (Q) |
| 23 | 99 | Malawi |
| 24 | 100 | Togo |
| 25 | 102 | Zimbabwe |
| 26 | 105 | Mozambique |
| 27 | 110 | Rwanda |
| 28 | 116 | Congo DR |
| 29 | 118 | Gambia |
| 30 | 120 | Sudan (Q) |
| 31 | 121 | Kenya |
| 32 | 122 | Namibia |
| 33 | 123 | Liberia |
| 34 | 128 | Central African Republic |
| 35 | 131 | Congo |
| 36 | 133 | Ethiopia |
| 37 | 136 | Benin |
| 38 | 137 | Tanzania |
| 39 | 141 | Burundi |
| 40 | 142 | Chad |
| 41 | 151 | Equatorial Guinea (Q) |
| 42 | 153 | Lesotho |
| 43 | 160 | Madagascar |
| 44 | 162 | Guinea-Bissau |
| 45 | 180 | Swaziland |
| 46 | 187 | Comoros |
| 47 | 188 | Seychelles |
| 48 | 189 | Eritrea |
| 49 | 190 | Somalia |
| 50 | 194 | Mauritius |
| 51 | 196 | São Tomé e Príncipe |
| 52 | 198 | Djibouti |
| 53 | 204 | Mauritania |