Black Stars ranked seventh best team at 2010 FIFA World Cup

Johannesburg, July 8, GNA - Ghana's Black Stars has been ranked the

seventh best team at the ongoing South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The Stars, the only African team to advance past the group stage before

they crashed to Uruguay at

the quarter-finals, were ranked ahead of reigning and defending World

Champions Italy and are also

the only African team in the top 10.

The final standings of the competition was released by World soccer

governing body, Federation of

International Football Associations (FIFA) on Thursday ahead of the

third-place playoff and the grand

finale on Sunday, 11 July.

Conspicuously missing from the standings are the first to fourth placed

teams since the outcome of

the matches were unknown at the time of the release of the rankings with

Spain, Netherlands,

Germany and Uruguay expected to fill the vacuum later on.

Information gathered by GNA Sports from the FIFA Secretariat in Sandton

has it that the standings

was influenced by the performance of the respective teams including points

haul from matches, goals

scored, goals conceded and the general team conduct amongst others.

The current position of the Black Stars serves as a great improvement

on the team's ranking after

its 13th position in the Germany 2006 FIFA World Cup, where they were also

the only African team to

have gone past the first round.

Five-time World Champions, Brazil and their bitterest rivals, Argentina

were ranked fifth and sixth

respectively.

Four-time Africa champions, Cameroon who lost all their three games

were ranked 31st just above

Korea DPR, who perched at the bottom (32nd spot), and also recording the

heaviest defeat by losing

0-7 to Portugal.

Cote d'Ivoire placed 17th, hosts South Africa are 20th, Nigeria and

Algeria on 27th and 28th

respectively.

Below is the full rankings from 5th to 32nd positions;

5. Argentina

6. Brazil

7. Ghana

8. Paraguay

9. Japan

10. Chile

11. Portugal

12. USA

13. England

14. Mexico

15. Korea Republic

16. Slovakia

17. Cote d'Ivoire

18. Slovenia

19. Switzerland

20. South Africa

21. Australia

22. New Zealand

23. Serbia

24. Denmark

25. Greece

26. Italy

27. Nigeria

28. Algeria

29. France

30. Honduras

31. Cameroon

32. Korea DPR