On Friday,  the international governing body of football, Fifa, published the final ranking of female teams in 2012.

Despite failing to win a medal at the African Women's Championship in Equatorial Guinea, the Falcons of Nigeria remain the best team in Africa and have a global rank of 32nd. They were previously ranked in the 27th position.

Olympic champions USA, unbeaten in more than 20 games, top the ranking followed by Germany. Note that the biggest movers are the new African champions Equatorial Guinea, who are ranked 54th in the world and 4th in Africa.

The next Women's World Ranking will be published by Fifa on March 22, 2013.

Top 20 African Teams
1    Nigeria      
2    Cameroon      
3    Ghana       
4    Equatorial Guinea       
5    South Africa       
6    Côte d'Ivoire       
7    Morocco   
8    Tunisia           
9    Algeria       
10    Egypt           
11    Senegal           
12    Mali           
13    Zimbabwe       
14    Ethiopia       
15    Congo DR   
16    Guinea       
17    Namibia           
18    Tanzania       
19    Zambia       
 20    Mozambique