The ACN 2010 tournament will be remembered for Egypt’s history-making treble, which confirmed what most fans already knew – that the Pharaohs reign supreme in Africa. And now they add an unprecedented hat-trick to an unrivalled tally of Nations Cup goals, appearances, joint-record participations in the final and, of course, most titles – seven.
To cap it off, the Pharaohs are on the longest unbeaten run in the tournament’s 53-year history – these 19 matches now stretching across the 2006, 2008 and now 2010 triumphs. They have also just broken into Fifa’s top 10 teams in the world.
Egypt just broken into Fifa’s top 10 teams in the world.
The Africa Cup of Nations has had a major impact on the first FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking of the year. While Spain continue to occupy top spot ahead of Brazil and the Netherlands, Egypt managed to climb 14 places to tenth place after they successfully defended their title at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.
This is not only Egypt’s highest-ever position in the ranking, but also the second-highest of any African team since the introduction of the ranking. They have only been bettered by Nigeria, who reached fifth place in April 1994. Other African teams also benefited from their performances in Angola. In the upper echelons of the ranking, semi-finalists Nigeria (15th, up 7) and finalists Ghana (27th, up 7) made considerable strides. Further down the ranking, Zambia (73rd, up 11) and Malawi (82nd, up 17) also made good progress.
