Former Black Stars striker Augustine Arhinful has cast doubt on the accuracy of FIFA rankings in truly reflecting the form of national teams, especially considering Ghana’s recent decline in the latest update released on April 4, 2024.
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The four-time African champions have been consistently declining in the rankings, currently holding the 68th position globally, with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) now surpassing them in the standings.
The Black Stars’ decline in the recent release followed uninspiring performances in the March international friendlies. They suffered a 2-1 defeat to Nigeria and managed a 2-2 draw against Uganda.
However, Arhinful believes that attention should be directed towards how a team develops, regardless of the results of their matches, as this is what ultimately determines how FIFA ranks nations.
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“The ranking really may be an issue for us. I think we need to concentrate on how we build the team going forward, which is most important,” he stated.
Arhinful highlighted cases of teams ranked highly in FIFA rankings but faltering at major tournaments, indicating that rankings can sometimes be deceptive.
“It could also make it complacent, because 2006, before the World Cup, I think Czech Republic were number two then. But we went into the World Cup and we beat them, and they didn’t even qualify from the group stage.”
“So the ranking, yes, it could be good, but the focus should be how the team is going forward.”
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