Ghana’s one-month reign amongst the top 20 ends as the four-time African champions drop nine places down on the log as FIFA on Wednesday released the latest monthly world ranking.

Despite a draw and a defeat in two separate friendly matches, Ghana lost 68 points in the month of March leaving the Black Stars with 813 points that see them dop from the 19th position to the 28th position.

Ghana’s drop is attributed to the busy calendar last month when a series of results were recorded in the EURO 2008 qualifiers and success in qualifiers for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2008 impacted greatly on the ranking schedule for April.

According to FIFA, country’s who do not participate in any of the competitive major tournaments or qualifying series at the senior level drop valuable points.

Ghana, by virtue of being host of the 2008 African Cup of Nations are not taking part in the continent’s qualifying campaign and have thus been affected by the calculations.

On the African continent, Ghana is now fourth best with Cameroon in pole position and the Ivory Coast holding onto second spot while Nigeria are third.

April’s ranking surprisingly, shows that world champions Italy are back on top ending Argentina's brief, one-month reign to an abrupt halt.

The Argentinians, who have not played since the last edition of the ranking, have fallen away slightly due to the devaluation of results from previous years, as have Brazil despite recording two victories in friendly matches.