Accra, Oct 18 (IANS): Ghana moved one place up from the 24th position to rank 23rd in the October edition of the FIFA world ranking, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) announced here Thursday.

Ghana also gained 45 more points to increase its point accumulation, which stood at 815 in September, to 860 points, thanks to the recent strong performance in the first leg play-off over Egypt in the world cup qualifier, Xinhua reported.

The Black Stars, Ghana's national team, are still Africa's second best behind Cote d'Ivoire, with Algeria and Nigeria following in third and fourth positions in that order.

In the overall world rankings, Spain still occupies the number one spot as Germany climbs to second with Argentina in third place.

According to FIFA, 69 World Cup qualifiers played since the last edition of the world ranking, as well as the 20 friendlies and 10 preliminary matches for continental competitions, have had a significant effect on the global ladder.

The latest edition of the ranking also determined which teams would be seeded for the European play-off draw for Brazil 2014, which will take place at the home of FIFA in Zurich Oct 21.