The reigning African champions, who were in 19th place in the rankings last month, have moved down to 42nd with a 273 decrease in their total points.

Egypt, along with other African countries like Cameroon, Nigeria and Guinea, suffered dearly after FIFA decided to depreciate their points from last year’s African Cup of Nations according to the new system.

This dip also saw Egypt drop to 7th among African teams after being 4th last month.

On the other hand, world champions Italy has finally managed to topple Brazil from the ranking table summit for the first time in 55 months.

It is the first time that the Italians have assumed pole position since November 1993.

FIFA world rankings:

1 Italy

2 Brazil

3 Argentina

4 France

5 Germany

Top African teams:

17 Cameroon

21 Ivory Coast

22 Ghana

35 Mali

36 Nigeria

Top Arab teams:

42 Egypt

43 Morocco

45 Tunisia

63 Saudi Arabia

76 Oman