FIFA rates Ghana as underdogs in 'Group of Death'

Ghana will go into this month’s World Cup in Brazil knowing that they are the underdogs in Group G as they are behind all their group opponents in the FIFA ranking released before the tournament.

This means the Black Stars are the least ranked team in the Group of Death and finishing bottom of the group should not surprise anyone, according to the statistics released by FIFA on Thursday.


The Black Stars are now positioned 37th and are behind all their Group G opponents – Germany are 2nd, Portugal in 4th position and the USA are placed 13th.


The Black Stars are ranked the lowest in the group even though they have thrashed the Americans in their two previous appearances at the World Cup.


The results of 112 “A” international matches have been taken into account for the current edition of the ranking, with 67 friendly matches plus continental qualifiers in CAF (26 matches), the AFC (16) and CONCACAF (3) being played up to 30 May.

The Black Stars are still fourth on the continental ranking table. Algeria have leapfrogged Ivory Coast into the lead as the Ivorians now sit in second place followed by Egypt in that order.


World champions, Spain are still number one as Ghana’s group opponents at the World Cup, Germany remain second with Portugal now fourth.


Ghana has previously defied such ranking to finish well in tough groups in their two previous appearances at the World Cup.