Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates are currently among Africa’s 10 highest-ranked teams in the Opta’s global Power Rankings.
The rankings include nearly 13,500 domestic football teams and provide team ratings across the entire global footballing ecosystem. It allows to compare teams in different countries or continents to inform decisions on a comparable scale.
The Opta Power Rankings rank teams on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world (currently Manchester City).
The rankings are updated daily and currently rank teams from 183 different countries and 413 unique domestic leagues, providing a truly global rating system in men’s football.
A teams’ rankings is determined by its results in domestic and international tournaments but also the strength of the respective competitions.
Currently, defending CAF Champions League winners Wydad Casablanca are the highest-ranked African team with a rating of 79.5 and in 153rd position globally.
They are followed by Sundowns, who have a rating of 79.4 and sit in 156th position world-wide. The Masandawana were actually the highest ranked African team recently but dropped behind Wydad following their latest draws in the DStv Premiership.
Wydad’s cross-town rivals Raja Casablanca follow in third place in Africa and 213th overall, while CAF record champions Al Ahly are only in fourth on the continent right now and 219th overall.
FAR Rabat are the third Moroccan team in Africa’s top five, and find themselves in 227th spot globally after currently leading the Botola Pro log in Morocco ahead of Wydad.
Sundowns’ CAFCL quarter-final opponents CR Belouizdad are in sixth on the continent and 263rd overall. FUS Rabat, currently third in the Botola Pro, are seventh in Africa and 330th worldwide, while ES Tunis follow in eighth among the CAF team and 345th overall.
Pyramids, who will face Marumo Gallants in the CAF Confederations Cup, are in ninth on the continent and 346th globally, while Orlando Pirates complete Africa’s top 10 and sit in 397th place world-wide.
