Zimpapers Logo

Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter

THE Warriors will finish the year outside the top 100 teams in the world, according to the end-of-year Fifa/Coca-Cola World Rankings.

Zimbabwe is ranked number 108 with 1 180 points, three rankings higher than their 2019 position of 111. The senior national team also went two places up to 25^th in the African rankings.

In a year besieged by the coronavirus pandemic, which crippled football-related activities globally, the Warriors only played two back-to-back Afcon Qualifying encounters against Algeria last month.

They lost 3-1 in Algiers before playing to a 2-2 draw with the Desert Foxes at the National Sports Stadium.

The next Fifa/Coca-Cola World Rankings will be published on February 18 next year.

It will be a busy 2021 for the Warriors, who have Afcon and World Cup qualifiers lined up. They wrap up their Afcon qualifying campaign with two games scheduled for March when they visit Botswana before hosting Zambia.

With 10 points from four matches, Algeria have already qualified heading into the final two matches to be played during the next international break in March.

Zimbabwe’s game against Botswana now appears set to decide who joins Algeria in Cameroon. The Warriors have five points followed by Botswana with four and Zambia on three points.

The Warriors were drawn in Group G alongside neighbours South Africa, West African giants Ghana and Ethiopia in the World Cup qualifying group. The World Cup qualifiers are set to start in May.

Zimbabwe qualified for the group phase round of the qualifiers after beating Somalia 3-2 on aggregate in the preliminary round of qualifiers. – @innocentskizoe