Ghana moves up three places to the 17th position in the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking released today.

The Black Stars, quarter-finalists at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa picked up two more points to amass 891 in total as they continue their gradual rise on ranking table after breaking into the top 20 last month.

The continent has only three sides - Egypt, Ghana and Ivory Coast - making it into the top 20.

Ghana are still Africa's second best side behind Egypt. Ivory Coast, Algeria, Nigeria and Burkina Faso trail the Black Stars in that order on the continental ranking table.

World champions, Spain still leads the pack in the overall standing followedby the Netherlands and Brazil in third position.

FIFA says qualifying for the AFC and CONCACAF continental championships made for significant movement in this edition of the world ranking.

A total of 156 “A” international matches – 80 continental qualifiers and 76 friendly matches – were taken into account for the October edition of the world ranking, which brings the total number of matches evaluated in 2010 to 641.