The Egyptian national football team has narrowly escaped another shock from the international governing body, FIFA, regarding its points in the global rankings.
This comes despite Egypt’s defeat against the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Africa Cup of Nations Round of 16, leading to an early exit from the tournament against a team with lower capabilities and a lower FIFA ranking.
Despite suffering three shocks from FIFA during the group stage due to draws against Mozambique, Ghana, and Cape Verde, Egypt, by FIFA’s decision, managed to avoid another setback after bidding farewell to AFCON at the hands of Congo.
The match ended 1-1 in regular and extra time, with Egypt losing in the penalty shootout.
The avoidance of a new setback for the Egyptian national team in terms of point deduction in FIFA’s rankings can be attributed to FIFA’s regulations.
According to the international governing body’s rules, starting from the knockout stages of the Africa Cup of Nations, no points will be deducted from teams facing defeat in these stages, whether in regular time or penalty shootouts.
Referring to FIFA’s regulations, Egypt has dodged the deduction of further points before the release of the new rankings in mid-February, maintaining its points at 1500.38.
Despite escaping a point deduction, the Egyptian team missed the opportunity to continue its journey in the Africa Cup of Nations and eliminate Congo.
A victory in regular time would have earned Egypt an additional 12.71 points, while a triumph in the penalty shootout would have secured 3.96 points in the global rankings.
