Ghana will kick off the African Nations Cup boosted by their leap to 26th on the FIFA rankings released today.

The first ranking of the year shows the Black Stars improving three places on the log from 29th in the previous results though there were very few changes to 2012’s first edition.

The Black Stars, who are aiming for the 2012 Nations Cup title start off the year as Africa's second best side behind Ivory Coast after gaining 18 points to accumulate 779.

Algeria are third with Egypt following up in fourth on the continental ranking table.

World champions, Spain still leads the the overall standing followed by the Netherlands and Germany in third position.

Fifa expects movement on February’s Ranking as the 32 matches taking place at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea will be taken into account.