Antigua and Barbuda’s football ranking on both the regional and international scenes continues to improve. Based on the most recent Coca-Cola world ranking released by the world’s governing body, FIFA, Antigua and Barbuda is now ranked 123 in the world, four spaces up from our previous ranking of 127.

Antigua and Barbuda are flanked by Ethiopia and Georgia on the world ranking who are currently ranked 122 and 124 respectively while two other CONCACAF teams in Guyana and Cuba are presently ranked at 120 and 124 respectively.

Antigua and Barbuda also show improvement within CONCACAF where we are now ranked at number 12, some four spaces up from our previous ranking of 16. The upward movement also placed Antigua and Barbuda one place above one of the region’s powerhouse Cuba who are now ranked 13 in the CONCACAF region.

Antigua and Barbuda are, however, led by Guyana who moved six spaces up to rank number 11 and Haiti who moved five spaces to number 10. Antigua and Barbuda also now ranks fifth within the CFU.  General Secretary of the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA), Gordon “Banks” Derrick, believes that the nation’s steady rise on both the regional and world rankings is as a result of the hard-work and proper planning by the ABFA, which he says are now bearing fruits.

“We are doing the things that are right and this is why we are seeing Antigua and Barbuda being able to maintain its rise and remaining in the echelons of world football,” he said.

“Our youth programmes continue to do well as we have been running the under-16 for two years now are a looking to have the under-13s and under-12s come on board shortly and when you see we have some six to eight under-20 players now training with our senior national team you can see that the youths are now starting to make their mark meaning that we can only improve as we go along,” Derrick said.

Derrick, along with the FA’s President, Everton “Batow” Gonsalves, recently attended the Caribbean Football Union’s (CFU) 32nd Ordinary Congress in Trinidad & Tobago.

They also attended bilateral meetings with the CFU officials to give a progress and development report on the state of the sport in Antigua and Barbuda. They also shared their ideas about their plans to move the sport forward in Antigua and Barbuda. (Antigua Sun)