A third-place finish at the African Cup of Nations has seen Ghana record an all-time best position ever, 14th, on the FIFA World Ranking table released today by the sport governing body.

Ghana with 330 points gained from the past month have improved 29 steps up the table to become Africa’s number one footballing nation for this month.

The 14th position is Ghana’s best ever placement on the ranking table after April 1996 when the Black Stars placed 15th and since the ranking was introduced in August 1993.

According to FIFA, this month’s ranking was clearly influenced by the 32 matches played at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations hosted by though there have been no changes at the top as Argentina, Brazil and Italy hold onto their positions in front with just a few points separating them.

Only Ghana and losing CAN finalist, Cameroon are the only teams from Africa ranked within the top 20.

CAN winners, Egypt are positioned 29th with Côte d'Ivoire placing 24th in the world.

Nigeria, who have slipped from the number position in Africa are ranked 45th, thus representing 26 places down.

On the African continent, Ghana leads the chasing pack followed by Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Senegal and Nigeria in that order.